HOW DID PHIL HARTMAN DIE? HIS TOUCHING MURDER AT THE HANDS OF HIS WIFE

When comedian Phil Hartman was murdered by his wife Brynn on May 28, 1998, America was devastated — but his friends had seen the warning signs for years.

On May 28, 1998, Phil Hartman died at the age of just 49 — when his wife Brynn Omdahl Hartman murdered him inside their Los Angeles home before killing herself. America was shocked to see the headlines about how Phil Hartman’s wife shot him dead in a grisly murder-suicide.

However, to friends who’d known the couple for years, Phil Hartman’s death was a long time in the making.

Phil Hartman Death

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Phil Hartman died on May 28, 1998, when he was shot by his wife Brynn Omdahl Hartman inside their Los Angeles home.

At the time, Hartman was celebrated as one of the funniest comedians in America, thanks to his work on hits like Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons. And while many comedians have been known for the dark personal lives lurking behind their humorous onscreen presence, Phil Hartman’s story ultimately proved to be especially tragic.

This is the haunting story behind the death of Phil Hartman.

Phil Hartman’s First Forays Into Comedy

Phil Hartman

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Actor and Comedian Phil Hartman poses for a portrait in circa 1990.

Born in September of 1948 in Ontario, Canada, Phil Hartman was the fourth of eight children in a devout Catholic family. Yet with so many siblings vying for their parent’s love, Hartman found it difficult to earn attention and affection.

“I suppose I didn’t get what I wanted out of my family life,” Hartman said, “so I started seeking love and attention elsewhere.” This need for attention undoubtedly spurred the young Hartman towards acting out in school, and after the Hartman family moved to the United States when Hartman was 10 years old, he began to earn a reputation for being a class clown.

Hartman would eventually go on to study graphic arts at California State University which ultimately afforded him the opportunity to open his own graphic design company. His company was successful, with Hartman’s business helping to create over 40 album covers for various bands including Poco, America, as well as the logo for Crosby, Stills, and Nash.

It was during his time working in graphic design that Phil Hartman finally discovered a passion for comedy when, in 1975, he began attending classes with the comedy group The Groundlings. In a 2014 New Yorker article highlighting the Phil Hartman biography by Mike Thomas entitled You Might Remember Me, Hartman is rightfully remembered for the almost immediate way he took to performing comedy:

“As Thomas tells it, Hartman was instantly good, a performer whose ‘utter commitment begat brilliance,’ an indispensable ‘utility player’ who could be ‘counted on in all scenarios.’ Comedic actor Jon Lovitz, also a Groundling at this time, considered Hartman a ‘big star,’ someone who could be told to play a shoe salesman and deliver something jaw-dropping: ‘Whatever he was going to imagine or say was nothing you could imagine or think of … He could do any voice, play any character, make his face look different without makeup. He was king of the Groundlings.'”