When Phil Hartman ended his run on Saturday Night in 1994, his final bit was singing goodbye with Chris Farley dressed as his Matt Foley character. That in hindsight is just sad as the show would experience a very dark period from the death of Farley in December 1997 and then the huge shock in May of 98 when Hartman was murdered.
I'll always like Farley, but the stuff that he did, he was bound to be dead sooner or later at the time. The combination of food, alcohol, and drugs controlled his life, especially after leaving SNL. I'm not sure if he would have even survived to do Shrek or any other roles that were given to him. Still, it was very sad for a lot of people. He had no control, no matter how many times he went to rehab or any means to stop the drug use and alcohol. A career tragically cut short. I don't know what else can be said that has been said already.
Hartman was on the up and up following his departure. He was starting to get a bit of movie roles. There was the show NewsRadio where he was the head radio voice. Of course, there was The Simpsons and portraying Blasto, a video game for the PlayStation. He was set to be Zapp Brannigan for Futurama despite the show not being in production yet. It became a huge shock for not just the nation, but Hollywood. Out of all the things that could happen, he was murdered by his wife, who after a few hours later, killed herself, leaving their two kids without parents.
Like Farley, there was alcohol issues pertaining to the wife, Brynn. Whether she was taking prescriptions or drugs, I don't think anyone knows. It has been said she used Zoloft, but how true that is is another question. There was the question of how rocky the Hartman marriage was and whichever one was wanting to end it, combined with therapy. How this started, your guess is as good as mine. With all that in mind, it was a huge stunner for Hollywood. For a guy who was beloved that much for how he was on SNL from 1986 though 94 and being on the rise in stardom after that, his end would become one of the biggest tragedies for any individual.
No one should have to bury their own children or see their own parents in caskets, no matter how famous those people could be.
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