Phil Hartman died at the age of 49 on May 28, 1998, when his wife Brynn Omdahl Hartman murdered him inside their Los Angeles home before killing herself. The news about Phil Hartman’s wife shooting him dead in a gruesome murder-suicide horrified the country. Friends who had known the couple for years said Phil Hartman’s death was not a surprise.
Hartman was regarded as one of America’s funniest comedians at the time, thanks to his work on shows such as Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons. And, while many comedians have been recognized for the gloomy inner lives that lurk beneath their comedic on-screen personas, Phil Hartman’s narrative proved to be extremely devastating in the end.
Phil Hartman’s First Attempts at Comedy
Phil Hartman was born in September 1948 in Ontario, Canada, the fourth of eight children in a devoted Catholic household. With so many siblings vying for their parents’ 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 desire for attention probably drove the young Hartman to act up in school, and once the Hartman family relocated to the United States when Hartman was ten years old, he earned a reputation as a class clown.
Hartman went on to study graphic arts at California State University, which gave him the opportunity to start his own graphic design company. Hartman’s company was successful, assisting in the creation of over 40 album covers for diverse bands such as Poco, America, and the Crosby, Stills, and Nash logo.
Phil Hartman acquired his love of comedy while working in graphic design in 1975, when he started taking classes with the comedy group The Groundlings.
How He Met His Wife
Phil Hartman began to receive more accolades and work as a result of his undeniable charisma and talent. Voice work and small roles in films began to come in as well.
Hartman even worked with fellow Groundling Paul Reubens on the creation of his now-iconic PeeWee Herman character.
Phil Harman met Brynn Omdahl in 1985, the woman who would become his third wife and, ultimately, his murderer. Tragically, the seeds of Phil Hartman’s tragedy were sown long before the heinous incident occurred.
The two met at a party. Omdahl was sober at the time despite the fact that she had had a sordid history with drugs and alcohol. Their relationship was bumpy from the get-go.”
Brynn Omdahl began to suffer with substance abuse again after returning to California, a factor that eventually played a significant role in Phil Hartman’s death. The two were known to argue, and threats were occasionally made, and Hartman’s friends and family were often open about their dislike for Omdahl.
When Hartman told his friend and fellow Groundlings actress Cassandra Peterson in 1987 that he was planning to propose to Brynn Omdahl, Peterson reportedly shouted, “Oh god, no!” Peterson was subsequently ordered to leave Hartman’s office, and the two did not speak for the next several years. “It’s the first time — and, I believe, the last time — I ever saw him upset,” Peterson said of the incident.
Friends and family had no idea of the violence that was going to occur in the late 1990s, as the Hartmans’ relationship began to deteriorate and Brynn Hartman fell deeper into the depths of substance abuse.
Both Hartmans kept weapons in their home, and Brynn Hartman would frequently pick fights before going to bed. Phil Hartman devised a routine in which he pretended to be asleep in order to avoid his wife’s violence and manic behavior.
The Deaths
On the night of May 27th, 1998, Brynn Hartman had gone to dinner with a friend who had afterwards remarked that she had been in “a good frame of mind”. Brynn is believed to have argued with Hartman once she returned home.
Phil Hartman was furious with his wife over a previous incident in which she had smacked their daughter while under the influence of alcohol, and Hartman had threatened to leave his wife if she started using drugs again or caused more harm to their children. Hartman then went to his bed.
Brynn Hartman then entered Hartman’s bedroom shortly before 3 a.m. and shot him between the eyes, in the throat, and in the chest. She was high on cocaine and had just snorted it.
Brynn Hartman fled the house in shock and drove to see a friend, Ron Douglas, where she confessed to the murder. Her buddy did not initially trust her statement, possibly because Brynn Hartman was prone to dramatic and psychotic outbursts.
Douglas contacted 911 after going to Hartman’s house and finding Hartman shot to death in the couple’s bed. Brynn Hartman had barricaded herself in the bedroom by the time officials arrived, and she subsequently committed suicide with the same gun she had used to murder her husband.