RateItAll: The Opinion Network

Best straight man ever!!!

Phil is great. He is funny in everything. There are so many characters he plays that are good.

Loved him on SNL...he over-acted on purpose folks...that is what was so funny. He got even better on News Radio. I miss watching him and Chris Farley.

I just never saw the talent that everyone else seemed to see. I think he was boring, and he over-acted terribly. Basically, he got on my nerves.

While SNL has a respectable record of producing "Superstars", the show is working best when they have a great ensemble of versatile comedic character players. In that regard Phil Hartman was one of, if not the greatest player they ever had. He could do impersonations, play straight, be over the top or be subtle. He was a great foil for the other players, especially Jon Lovitz and the guest hosts. He'd rate with Dan Ackroyd, Nora Dunn, Mike Meyers, Molly Shannon, Will Ferrell and the criminally overlooked Jane Curtin. Very few of the Superstars last past two or three post SNL movies.

When he played Sinatra opposite Sting,s character Billy Idol it was comic genius! His Ed McMahon opposite Dana Carvey,s Carsinio-priceless!!! If you say he,s the best-YOU ARE CORRECT SIR! HIYOOOO

For those who are saying he's getting sympothy votes, I say poppycock to you. I always thought Phil Hartman, along with Dana Carvey were probably the most consistently funny cast members in SNL's long history. I gotta put Will Ferell up there also.

really funny. loved him on snl and the simpsons. and he wrote pee wee's big adventure. ok ignore that part, but otherwise very funny.

ok actor, but never great!

This rating seems a bit high. Which leads me to believe that its been influenced by sympathy due to the circumstances surrounding his death. Hartman was a terrific comedian, but by no means SNL's best.

Simply the best. No one better.

As time goes by, it is much more obvious how great Phil Hartman was on SNL. He wasn't the star of the show, but he could play a character in almost any sketch. Its a shame that he was killed so young, because I think more people would have definitely enjoyed seeing Phil Hartman perform.

There are very few people in Hollywood that I have ever felt sorry for. Phil Hartman was one of the few. A decent man who was on the wrong end of his wife's wrath, he was the glue for a nine year period of the late 80s and early 90s on SNL. He was wonderful as Bill Clinton, and I always got pleasure from watching him as Donahue. He was great on the Simpsons and News Radio as well. He was somewhat hit-or-miss with movies, but that doesn't take away at all from the comic genius that this man was.

I think everyone's just rating him so high 'cause he's dead.

The most versitial cast member since the show started. Phil could do any thing and make it funny, he had so much talent more than the entire current cast combined, which is not saying much. His murder was a very sad day for the world of comedy. We will never see his like again.

One of the greats!

Hartman was the glue that held the cast together for about a decade.. much like Will Ferrell later on..

Phil was one of the most versatile and brilliant comedians the show ever had.

A brilliant, hilarious actor, and it really is very sad he cannot be here with us today.

One of the true workhorses of the show. He carried a cast during a transistion from the dead time back to popularity. Not since Bill Murray has their been such a solid cast member...

Definitely one of the greats from the late 80s, early 90s era. My favorite memories of Phil include his many skits as the smarmy game show host, most notably when Mr. Short Term Memory (Tom Hanks) played in the Bonus Round with Tony Randall (RIP). Hanks was giving Randall clues as to what he was describing, and kept repeating, You put these on, over your feet.... Randall kept saying, Sock. We just did that! Phil's facial expressions during this skit were priceless. I also recall another Short Term Memory skit when Hartman played Hanks' friend in the hospital and Hanks continued to scream for the nurse. Phil was also the first SNL cast member to do Bill Clinton, and did an admirable job.

Phil was the best, the BEST! Such a talent; such a loss.

So funny...his straight guy routine was the best!

He was my all time favorite SNL cast member even before his sick wife killed him. He was only getting started before he was killed. I truly believe that he would have become a classic actor and comedian, much the same as Tony Randall or Walter Matheau. His deadpan delivery of outrageous material was always right on target. What a great entertainer.

Another crappy actor out of SNL, but he wasn't completely horrible on News Radio. I just didn't care for his comedy. He was almost as overrated as Chris Farley. But it was horrible to hear of his death. I don't think anyone deserves to die at such a young age. :(

It's a shame to know he's gone.

I forget that he was the 1st Clinton. He gets 5 stars tho just for his Sinatra ("You watch it baby - I got chunksa guys like you in my stool!")

he's a great comedian and we all miss his comedy.

Most Versatile ever on the show.

A rare talent.

I still can't figure out how Frankenstein made me laugh, but it did. Genius.

Possibly the best and most distinguished SNL castmember of the late 80s and early 90s. His "Frozen Caveman" character was perhaps Phil at his best, but his Bill Clinton impersonations were also hilarious. His death was a tragedy, and a true comedian has left this world. RIP Phil.

Phil Hartman was amazing. So smart, so incredible. I still can't believe he and that pathetic, annoying Jimmy Fallon were on the same show (thank goodness not at the same time). What a shame.

Brilliant, never not funny

HE WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST & WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN!

His Frank Sinatra impersonation is great, but other than that, I don't find him incredibly funny.

It is often said that the good die young. Belushi and Farley certainly fall into that category. But Phil Hartman's death marks not just the end of a tragically all-too-short life (he was not young when he died at 49, but nevertheless had many more performances in him). It marks for all of us the end of an era. Certainly the death of Chris Farley some six months earlier was tragic, but it did not mark for SNL such an abrupt end to SNL's re-awakening period from the early 90's. Hartman had retired from the show some four years earlier, but somehow we all hoped that he would return to the show to do one of his numerous characters, taken from the world of fiction and non-fiction. Who can forget Caveman Lawyer, Phil Donahue, and even his more recent Bill Clinton performance (Phil had continued to do the latter caricature as late as a week prior to his death when he made fun of the president's Monica Lewinsky woes on the Tonight Show). Hartman had an amazing range, and he could do both comedy and drama, a rarity among SNL cast members. His vocal intonations were superbly dynamic, allowing him to doo representations of all types of voices, and landed him many roles on cartoon shows such as the Simpsons and Dennis the Menace. His Bill McNeal character on News Radio was hillarious, largely for his subtle yet irkingly devious personality. Few SNL members have had, or probaby will have, the talent range that Phil Hartman had.

Hilarious... but it's a damn shame his wife got drugged up and shot him and herself. Tragedy.

Pure genious especially hi cave man and frankenstien characters ;-)

What Mr. Hartman brought to SNL was class, grace, and elegance. If his comedy were a three-piece suit he would be a silky Giorgio Armani. He wasn't a flashy comedian, he didn't rely on too many physical pratfalls to make people laugh. His dialogue and his actions were just enough to bring a laugh. What a shame that his wife was his judge and jury. I'm just glad that she did herself in and saved the taxpayers money.

One of the only truly US comedians, it was a huge tragedy when his life was cut so short in 1998. I will miss him for his work as Bill McNeal on "Newsradio" and his Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure on "The Simpsons". His legend will live on forever.

Phil Hartman was sooooo hilarious. He is a classic SNL member and person. I wish he was still alive, then comedy could actually still be funny.

Talented man! I miss his voice so much as Troy McClure. He was great!

A true treasure.

Phil Hartman is the defining member of his generation of SNL. He was an amazingly comical man. The skit when he impersonated Frank Sinatra is possibly the funniest to ever air on SNL. I also loved his voice used on the Simpsons, especially singing in "Planet of the Apes."

Longetivity, creative, talented; all good words to describe Phil's stay on SNL. A shame he was taken away from us so soon.

I think Phil Hartman was a great person and a wonderful actor and comedian. He's one of only 2 celebrities (The other being Peanuts creator Charles Shulz) whose deaths caused me to cry for days.

Phil's legacy will be missed. His voice was one of the most powerful I have heard in my lifetime and his range was unbelievable. His talent was recognized by Lorne Michaels, that's why he was in virtually every sketch in the early nineties.

The sarcasm that he had not only in SNL, but w/ his movies, was something that only Phil could play off really well. He was one of the greats and he is truly missed.

Your average, typical SNL member of the 80's and 90's, If you enjoy any of Phil's characters then you like all of them. His impression of Bill Clinton is better then today's guy who plays him.

Phil. My favorite. I think of him at least once a week. It either makes me laugh or nearly cry to do it. I miss him.

The best ones are always the first to go. First Chris Farley, then Phil. Phil wasn't a loud guy, or even slapstick. It was mostly the way he talked, all proper yet sarcastic. It was the kind of funny, you have to think about it, then once you get it you're on the floor. I also miss him as Bill McNeil (News Radio) and Troy McClure (Simpsons).

Phil Hartman was a talented comedian. He was quite distinguished as well. I liked his work on SNL playing various characters, especially Frank Sinatra. Besides SNL, he was on News Radio and The Simpsons. My favorite thing about Phil Hartman was his voice over ability. He was a man of a million voices.

He was hilarious. I love how he acted serious, yet he was being humorous. He gets extra points for being Troy McClure on the Simpsons. I also liked him on News Radio. I am angry that he died. RIP Phil.

Phil Hartman was extremely funny. Everything he did made me crack up. Too bad he died. Damn his wife!

Phil Hartman was an all around funny guy. But what cracked me up most about him were his voices. He had this traditional, mature sounding voice that was best exploited on the Simpsons.

I can't believe that that bitch killed Phil Hartman. He was a comic genius. He was great on News Radio, the Simpsons, and of course SNL. His Bill Clinton impression was perfect, and I love the Caveman sketch.

Phil was the classic SNL main man. He was on the show for eight seasons, second most to Tim Meadows, I think. He wasn't as slapstick as Sandler, or Farley say, but he can bust out a personalization perfectly. He brought to the show what it needed for so long, a sturdy, sort of, daddy.

Really good on SNL (Frozen Caveman Lawyer might have been his best), but I'll always remember him as the voice of Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz on "The Simpsons."

I think he was a comedic genius, but I am not sure his greatness was on SNL - other projects he worked on were great.

Anything you needed, Phil could do. Rarely was he the funniest in the skit, but at the same time, he was glue that held it together.