Phil Hartman | Phil Hartman and Birgen Hartman | Source: instagram.com/birgen | Getty Images
- Phil Hartman was a devoted father of two children before he tragically passed away.
- Shortly after the actor died, his wife followed him into the grave, leaving their two kids all alone.
- His children fended for themselves after losing their parents, with his daughter moving to Northwoods and making a life for herself.
Phil Hartman, who would have been 74 this year, was a successful actor and comedian, often appearing on the popular comedy skit show "Saturday Night Live." Besides hosting the TV show, Phil also starred in a range of comedy movies, from the 1996 Christmas film "Jingle All the Way" to the cult classic "Pee-wee's Big Adventure."
While Phil made a living working as an actor, he was also a highly dedicated father. In one of the last interviews Phil did before he passed away, the actor shared that he adored his kids and loved being a dad. He often took home videos, capturing his kids and family on tape as they slowly grew older.
Phil Hartman in "NewsRadio," 2006 | Source: Getty Images
Birgen Hartman, Brynn Hartman, Phil Hartman, and Sean Hartman, circa 1992 | Source: twitter.com/ABC2020
Sean Hartman and Phil Hartman | Source: twitter.com/ABC2020
Sean Hartman and Brynn Hartman | Source: twitter.com/ABC2020
Friends of Phil and his wife recalled how ecstatic the actor was when his children were born. He called them after he and his wife, Brynn Hartman, welcomed their second child to gush about how beautiful his new baby daughter was. Judging from the home videos, it's easy to see how devoted Phil was to his children.
While Phil was out of the house, Brynn often felt unsafe, eventually acquiring a gun to put her mind at ease.
Phil and his wife welcomed their first child, a baby boy named Sean Edward Hartman, in 1989. Later, in 1992, the couple welcomed their second child, a little girl name Birgen Hartman, and the comedian couldn't stop himself from calling his friends and telling them how beautiful his new baby girl was.
Birgen Hartman | Source: youtube.com/@ABCNews
Brynn Hartman and Phil Hartman | Source: youtube.com/@InsideEdition
The home videos showed Phil spending time with his children, often playing games to entertain them. In an interview, Phil confessed, "What makes me the happiest? Well, without question, it's being a father." Although the family seemed perfectly happy together, they had their problem, which culminated in a tragic ordeal.
The Death of the Hartmans
Phil spent every moment he wasn't working with his kids. At the time, the actor was working on a few projects, most notably contributing as a voice actor on the hit cartoon sitcom "The Simpsons." With his busy schedule, Phil was often away from home, leaving his Brynn alone with their children in their 4,000-square-foot Encino home.
Many people close to the Hartmans confessed that Brynn had had an unpredictable temper.
While Phil was raking in contracts and repeatedly appeared on "The Simpsons," portraying the down-on-his-luck actor Troy McLure and the shady lawyer Lionel Hutz, Brynn sat at home. She often asked her husband to get her a part in the projects he was working on, but Phil often said he forgot to enquire.
Police at the Hartman residence, in Los Angeles, in 1998 | Source: youtube.com/@ABCNews
While Phil was out of the house, Brynn often felt unsafe, eventually acquiring a gun to put her mind at ease. Friends begged her to get rid of the firearm, but Brynn insisted that it made staying in their huge Los Angeles mansion much more bearable. Brynn's friend commented, "She didn't feel safe in this house."
Brynn's friends mentioned that there were no real signs of marital discord between her and Phil, although Andrea Diamond, whom Brynn had been close with for six years, noted that there had been a few spats between Phil and his wife over the years. Andrea didn't make much of the conflicts, thinking the pair would work things out.
Many people close to the Hartmans confessed that Brynn had had an unpredictable temper. Steve Small, Phil's attorney who dealt with the actor's previous divorces, commented that Brynn had a tendency to get attention by losing her temper. She would often become inexorably enraged, and Phil often had to calm her down.
Phil Hartman's body being removed in Los Angeles, 1998 | Source: youtube.com/@InsideEdition
Despite the quarrels and Brynn's temper, no one close to the Hartmans had expected her to eventually take her gun and fire it at Phil before turning the weapon on herself. One evening, after what Police assumed was a nasty spat, Brynn killed her husband before taking her own life while their two kids were in the house.
Sean and Birgen grew up under an assumed last name to protect them from the press and the general public.
In May 1998, Phil and his wife, Brynn, passed away following the brutal murder-suicide. Police arrived at the scene a while after the shooting was reported and carried the 9-year-old Sean and 6-year-old Birgen out of the house. The coroner revealed that Brynn had been drinking while taking Zoloft, making her almost entirely unaware of her own actions.
Tha Hartman's bedroom, Los Angeles, 1998 | Source: youtube.com/@InsideEdition
Tha Hartman's home, Los Angeles, 1998 | Source: youtube.com/@InsideEdition
Tha Hartman's kitchen, Los Angeles, 1998 | Source: youtube.com/@InsideEdition
Phil's brother, John Hartman, sped to the crime scene as soon as he heard the news, deciding in an instant to take his late brother's two young children in. John forgave Brynn for what had happened but confessed that it wasn't easy to come to terms with his brother's death. Nonetheless, he hoped to give Phil's kids a good life.
How the Hartman Kids Made a New Life
Losing their parents was an undeniably tragic event that shaped the rest of Sean and Birgen's lives. Police officers arrived on the scene while Brynn was still alive and prioritized getting the two young children out of the home while trying to calm their mother down. While trying to distract her by breaking a window, Brynn fired a final shot, taking her own life.
John arrived soon afterward, gathering young Sean and his sister up and explaining the situation to them. He took the two children in for a while before they ended up with Brynn's sister, Katharine Wright, and her husband. The Wrights became the children's guardians and raised the two privately in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and then Edina, Minnesota.
Sean and Birgen grew up under an assumed last name to protect them from the press and the general public. Although they were subject to an unthinkable tragedy early in life, they grew up to be happy adults with successful careers and ample love and support from their surviving family members.
Sean grew up to be a musician and artist, while Birgen moved to Northwoods after obtaining degrees in Journalism and Communication from the University of St. Thomas. Birgen enjoys life in the forest, noting that she prefers it to Los Angeles. She is married and self-employed.
Birgen often pays homage to her parents on social media, sharing images of her father with her fans and thanking everyone for their well-wishes whenever the anniversary of her parents' death comes around. She wrote about her dad, "I'm very fortunate to have had a number of great father figures in my life. but this dapper dude will always have my heart."
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text "help" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741, or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
ncG1vNJzZmimlazAb63MqKSapZFjsLC5jm1ncmlgZ3qxtMilZKGZoqm6orrSZpuarZedwaa%2BjKWgr52UYravr86gpaKsn2O1tbnL