Phil Hartman was murdered in his sleep by his wife Brynn Hartman on May 28, 1998. Listen to the story of Phil’s rise to fame, his troubled marriage, and how he left a comedic legacy behind for his two small children and how one woman’s substance abuse, and want of fame lead to this tragic murder-suicide.
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TuneInEarly Life
Philip Edward Hartmann was born on September 24th, 1948 in Branford Canada. He was one of 8 children of Doris and Rupert Hartmann. Doris was a housewife and Rupert was a salesman. Being a middle child, he said that he felt like he didn’t have enough attention. He sought out this attention through comedy.
When he was 10 his family relocated to the US living in Maine then CT. In his teens, his family moved again, this time to the LA area. He quickly became known as a class clown in his Westchester High School in West LA.
Young Adult
After graduating from high school he attended Santa Monica City College but dropped out in 1969 to be a roadie for the band Rockin’ Foo. He always had a knack for art and ended up designing the group’s album covers, posters, etc.
Around this time he met his first wife, Gretchen Lewis. They married in 1970 but divorced in 1972. Being passionate about design in the music world Phil went back to school for graphic design at California State University. Using these skills and the connection of his brother working for the William Morris talent agency, Phil began designing album covers for Crosby Stills & Nash and Poco.
In 1975 he joined an improv group called the Groundlings which was based in LA. He was offered a spot in the group after volunteering to come on stage with them. It was at this time he began working with Paul Reubens (better known as Pee-Wee Herman) and Jon Lovitz. He was actually a co-writer of Pee-Wee’s big adventure in 1985.
In 1982 he married for a 2nd time, wedding Lisa Jarvis. Lisa said it was like living with 2 people, an entertainer, and a recluse. She said after their first anniversary they knew the marriage was over and they divorced shortly after. He continued with the Groundlings and in that time he met Brynn Omdahl on a blind date.
Brynn Hartman
Brynn Omdahl moved from Minnesota to LA in her early 20’s with dreams of becoming a model and actor. She didn’t see a whole lot of success in her career (a few modeling campaigns) and unfortunately, she began to have a cocaine problem. Her brother said, “she did too much cocaine”.
Phil seemed to think that she would help him rise in status. She thought that she could piggyback her career off of his. “As an actor, I felt I couldn’t compete. I wasn’t as cute as the leading man; I wasn’t as brilliant as Robin Williams. The one thing I could do was voices and impersonations and weird characters, and there was really no call for that. Except on Saturday Night Live.”
Saturday Night Live
In 1986 he joined Saturday Night Live in the same season as Jon Lovitz and Dana Carvey. He performed with the show for 8 seasons. 1986 was known almost as a rebirth for SNL as prior to that it was thought that the show was in decline. His characters included Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra, televangelist Jim Bakker, Ed McMahon, and former President Ronald Reagan. His most famous impression was that of Bill Clinton.
Third Marriage
His career was continuing to take off and in 1987 he and Brynn married. They took up residence in a Manhattan apartment and began a bi-coastal lifestyle. In 1988 they welcomed their son Sean into the world. Over time Lisa Jarvis (2nd wife) and Phil Hartman had become friends and he called to tell her about the birth and how happy he was to be a father.
Lisa sent the family a card expressing how happy she was for them and joking about being a babysitter. In return, she received a two-page letter from Brynn including a death threat if she ever came near her family. Lisa called Phil to talk to him about the letter and his response was “you should’ve seen what she wanted to send you.”
Brynn would often visit the SNL set and it seemed like she was trying to stand out and get a spot on the show. In 1989 Phil won an Emmy for his writing work on SNL. In 1991 he began working as a voice actor on The Simpsons playing actor Troy McClure. With more fame came a more demanding schedule as he was juggling SNL, The Simpsons, commercials and talk show appearances.
In 1992, Brynn and Phil welcomed their daughter Birgen into the world. Greg Omdahl, Brynn’s brother, describes them both as wonderful loving parents. But some would say Phil liked the idea of fatherhood more than putting in the real work.
Marriage Struggles
Brynn’s resentment towards Phil continued to grow. She had come to LA to be a model and an actor and it was his career that was taking off. He was the one in the spotlight while she was home with the kids. Besides his work schedule, he was spending more and more time away from home often on his boat or plane.
It was somewhat well known that they were struggling as a couple, fighting often and being overheard arguing on the set of SNL. In 1994 Phil Hartman left SNL and the family moved back to the West Coast. He told People magazine in a 1995 interview, “The rejection and back-stabbing could be painful, but the hardest thing was competing against your friends for airtime.”
Despite leaving SNL Hartman continued to focus on his career and the marriage continued to decline. Brynn had landed some minor roles here and there but for the most part, was a stay-at-home mom. Meanwhile, her drug problem persisted. Along with being prescribed Zoloft, she was an avid cocaine user.
In an effort to repair the marriage the couple saw a counselor. They both told family members that they felt it was helping.
Phil Hartman’s Murder
On the night of May 27th, 1998, Brynn went out for drinks at Buca de Beppo with her friend Christine Zander who was a supervising producer with NBC. “She was in a good frame of mind.” “She seemed content.” “didn’t talk about any problems.” “We made plans to see each other the following weekend.”
She left and ended up at Ron Douglas’s house (her ex and now friend) around 10:15. According to Ron they had a few beers, Brynn complained about Phil and left around 12:45 am. At 3:45 Ron was awoken by a pounding on the door, it was Brynn. When he answered the door she said “I killed Phil, and I don’t know why.”
He didn’t believe her at first so she made a call to another friend confessing again to the murder. While still with Ron a gun fell out of her purse between them. He took the gun and put it in the trunk of his car. They drove separately back to the Hartman home where they found Phil dead lying in the bed.
Ron Calls 911
Ron stepped into the hallway to call 911 and Brynn locked herself in the bedroom. Neighbors had also called police reporting shots fired. By 6 am the street was swarming with police and as they approached the front door 9-year-old Sean fled the home. He was rushed to safety. As police carried 6-year-old Birgen away a final shot rang out.
Police gained entrance to the bedroom and found Phil and Brynn both dead. Upon autopsy, it was found that Brynn had a blood alcohol content of .12 along with cocaine and Zoloft in her system. There were no signs of a struggle suggesting Brynn shot Phil in his sleep.
Some close to the couple said they had a pattern where Brynn would get amped up for attention, and Phil would push her even further. Then he would withdraw completely sometimes going to sleep. Steven Small, a close friend of Phil, also said that he had made it clear that if she was using again he would take the kids.
Both guns had been purchased years before due to Brynn feeling unsafe in their California home with Phil being away so much. Some friends, including Jim Lovitz, blamed Andy Dick. They believed he caused a relapse for Brynn after he shared cocaine with her at a party at the end of 1997. Andy denies it saying that she wasn’t relapsing and that she had already been using.
In the months leading up to the murder Brynn had been in and out of rehab but tragically couldn’t get her addiction under control. Their children were raised by Brynn’s sister in Wisconsin’s which had been outlined in the will. Today we are still left with the question, why did she do this?
Resources
- Inside the murder of Phil Hartman
- “The Last Days of Phil Hartman” airs Thursday, September 19 on ABC
- The man behind the laughter: ‘SNL,’ ‘Simpsons’ star Phil Hartman’s life off-screen before his violent death