Johnny Hardwick’s body was in bad shape when he died — so much so that officials haven’t been able to figure out how exactly he died … this according to the medical examiner.
According to the ‘King of the Hill’ star’s autopsy report, obtained by TMZ, Johnny was found dead in his bathtub back in August — and the water was running when he was found … but the drain was open and he was not actually submerged.
The M.E. says there were no obvious signs of trauma … adding that a toxicology test showed a “presumptive positive test for cannabinoids,” with the report noting drugs were found at the scene — although it’s unclear what sort of substance, precisely, was discovered.
With all that said, Johnny’s cause of death couldn’t be determined — this due to the “extensive decompositional changes” his body was going through when discovered. Another interesting nugget — the 5’7″ voice actor weighed just 100 pounds at the time of discovery.
TMZ broke the story, Texas officers were called to his home in August for a welfare check, which is when they discovered his body — he was pronounced dead at the scene, and no foul play was suspected at the time.
Johnny lent his voice to the animated show for 258 episodes of the long-running series, famously playing Dale Gribble … only missing one episode in the show’s entire run. He was also cited as returning for a supposed revival of the show, but it’s unclear if he ever recorded for it before his death.
Fans mourned the loss of Johnny soon after he was pronounced dead — and Mike Judge, co-creator of the series and voice of the show’s lead, Hank Hill, told us he was “deeply saddened” by his passing.
He was 64.
RIP.