Jonathan Joss, the actor who voiced John Redcorn on King of the Hill, has been shot dead at age 59 near his San Antonio home, just two days after an emotional appearance at the King of the Hill panel he wasn’t actually invited to (reports People).
According to police (via Variety), officers responded to a shooting in progress on Saturday night. They found Joss lying near the road. Despite efforts to save him, he was pronounced dead at the scene. The tragedy has only deepened due to heartbreaking details provided by his husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, who claimed the shooter shouted homophobic slurs before opening fire. “He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other,” Kern de Gonzales wrote in a Facebook post, saying Joss pushed him out of the way to save his life.
The couple were reportedly visiting the charred remains of their old home, which burned down earlier this year in a fire that killed their three dogs. While there, they found one of the dogs’ skulls. That’s when the confrontation allegedly began. “We were standing side by side,” said Kern de Gonzales. “When the man fired, Jonathan pushed me out of the way. He saved my life.”
San Antonio police said they’ve found no evidence yet that this was a hate crime, though investigations are ongoing. “Should any new evidence come to light, we will charge the suspect accordingly,” they said in a statement.
This all comes in the wake of a strange moment at the King of the Hill panel at the ATX TV Festival in Austin, an event Joss wasn’t invited to officially take part in. But that didn’t stop him. An eyewitness told People that Joss approached the mic before the Q&A had started. “I’m an actor,” Joss said in a fan-captured video. “I see a mic, I use it. I see a wrong, I make it right. I take a breath, I want to breathe.”
Security quickly escorted him out, though not before Mike Judge, co-creator of the series, acknowledged him to the crowd, confirming Joss would return as John Redcorn in the King of the Hill reboot.
Joss had previously posted on Facebook about not being asked to join the panel: “To not be invited felt like being shut out of a place I helped build.” While he later shared that Disney (which owns Hulu, the reboot’s home) had explained the panel was focused on series regulars, it clearly still stung.
Even so, Joss kept it professional, posting a video of himself the next day at a comic store in Austin, saying he was happy the reboot was moving forward.
The King of the Hill reboot is set to premiere August 4 on Hulu (via The Hollywood Reporter). Set years after the original finale, it finds Hank and Peggy returning from Saudi Arabia to a changed Arlen, Texas. Bobby is now in his 20s and working as a chef in Dallas. Along with Mike Judge, much of the original cast returns, including Pamela Adlon and Stephen Root. Johnny Hardwick recorded new lines before his passing, and Toby Huss steps in to help finish Dale’s dialogue. Watch the trailer.
And John Redcorn will be back too, voiced one final time by Jonathan Joss, the man who brought him to life.
