Actor, Comedian, Voice Actor, Graphic Artist. Born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, he was the fourth of eight children in a Catholic family. Moving from Canada to America at the age of ten, he grew up in Lewiston, Maine, Meriden, Connecticut & Southern California (Los Angeles) and described himself as a class clown. Graduating from Westchester High School & California State University, Northridge, he joined the comedy group "The Groundlings" in 1975. Hartman co-wrote the feature film "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" (1985) with a fellow Groundling, Paul Reubens. Hartman also worked as a graphic artist, designing album covers for Poco's albums "Seven" (1974) & "Legend" (1978), Steely Dan's "Aja" (1977), three albums by the band America ("History: America's Greatest Hits", "Harbor" & "Silent Letter"), and the logo for Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN). Hartman joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live" (SNL) in 1986, and stayed for eight seasons. His nickname on SNL was the "Glue" due to his ability to hold the sketches together and professionalism amongst his cast-mates. From 1991 to 1998, Hartman also provided the voices for Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure in the Fox animated television series "The Simpsons" and supplied his vocal talents to Mr. Wilson in season one of the "Dennis the Menace" animated series (1986-1987). Hartman left SNL in 1994 for a role in the ensemble comedy "NewsRadio" (1995-1999) in which he played radio newsman Bill McNeal. Hartman also co-starred in several feature films, including: "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (1986), "¡Three Amigos!" (1986), "Blind Date" (1987), "The Brave Little Toaster" (1987), "Kiki's Delivery Service" (1989; English voice dub), "Quick Change" (1990), "National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1" (1993), "Coneheads" (1993), "So I Married an Axe Murderer" (1993), "Greedy" (1994), "The Pagemaster" (1994), "Houseguest" (1995), "Sgt. Bilko" (1996), "Jingle All the Way" (1996) and "Small Soldiers" (1998). On May 28, 1998, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) responded to Hartman's home in Encino after a report of shots being fired. Hartman's wife Brynn had barricaded herself in their bedroom where she had already shot Hartman three times while he slept. Their two children were evacuated from the house by police. Mrs. Hartman then shot herself. The couple, both dead of gunshot wounds, were found in the master bedroom by police. Toxicology testing later showed Mrs. Hartman had a blood alcohol level of approximately .12 % as well as evidence of cocaine and anti-depressants. The motive behind the murder is unknown. After Hartman's death, The Simpsons retired his characters rather than find a replacement voice actor. He was set to voice the incompetent and misogynistic Zapp Brannigan on the Matt Groening-produced Fox sci-fi animated series "Futurama" (1999-2003), but upon his death, Hartman was replaced by Billy West. "NewsRadio" produced a special episode in which the cast sincerely mourned him via the death of Hartman's character Bill McNeal. Hartman was posthumously nominated for an Emmy Award for his portrayal of McNeal. His cremated remains were scattered over Santa Catalina Island's Emerald Bay. On September 22, 2012, he posthumously received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame. On August 26, 2014, Hartman received a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to television, located at 6600 Hollywood Blvd.