Phil Hartman. You May Remember Him from…
If you hit the “search” feature on this site and looked up Phil Hartman, you’d know that I am a big fan of the late, great man’s work. While Phil’s life was tragically cut short in 1998, we were left high and dry for anything Phil related.
From his early days as a graphic designer, to being a main cast member on Saturday Night Live, film appearances, playing Troy McClure, Lionel Hutz and others on The Simpsons, and being Bill McNeal on the sitcom NewsRadio – Phil developed a massive cult fan base.
Now, just over 15 years later, fans will now be able to see what life was like for Phil, behind the scenes and in his personal life. Much of it – unseen to the public eye.
You Might Remember Me: The Life and Times of Phil Hartman is a book currently in development by Mike Thomas, author of The Second City Unscripted. The upcoming book will be the first biography on Phil, with interviews, memories and photos from Phil’s family, friends, work colleagues, and other people who were touched by Phil’s persona and talent. With the co-operation of the Hartmann family, Phil’s brother Paul, and Angel Rosenthal – all fans of Phil – many stories and images will be shared in the book.
An example of what is coming up is a story on how fantastic Phil was in supporting up-coming and current comedic talent at the time. Writers and brothers Brian and Kevin Mulhern share a personal story with the fans on the official Facebook page:
Back in late 1993, brothers Brian (then in his early 20s) and Kevin Mulhern (still in college) submitted some of their comedy writing to Phil in the hopes he’d hire them to help create his planned variety show for NBC. Before long, Phil was on the horn offering them the gig. He even flew them to SNL for a meeting. And while “The Phil Show” never panned out, the friendship lasted until the end of Phil’s days.
Here’s one of many answering machine messages Phil would leave for the siblings, either constructively critiquing their work or just checking in. Sorry if an ad pops up beforehand, but it’s not possible to directly post audio files on FB. That I know of.
If unable to view/hear video above, please visit here.
There’s currently more things based on Phil already out there than you think. Xenovision is a film and production company, owned and controlled by Paul, Angel, Anthony Turino, John Paragon, and Mark Rosenthal – all Phil enthusiasts. Their goals are to make sure that Phil’s projects and ideas come to life. After succeeding in getting a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame, the next step is Hollywood.
Check out the site for more.
You Might Remember Me: The Life and Times of Phil Hartman coming soon in 2014.
Until then, enjoy rare interview footage of Phil having a chat to David Letterman.
Special thanks to Angel for the information.
