Phil (Hey Arnold!)

Infobox character
colour = lightblue
name = Grandpa Phil


caption =
first= The Little Pink Book
cause =
nickname = Steely Phil, President Phil
gender = Male
age = 81 (as of episode "Grandpa's Birthday") / 91 (as of september 30, 2008)
family = Mitzi (sister)
spouse = Grandma
children = Miles
occupation = Dead Cracker
portrayer = Dan Castellanetta
creator = Craig Bartlett

Phillip (voiced by Dan Castellanetta) is a character on the Nickelodeon cartoon "Hey Arnold!" who owns the local boarding house. He is Arnold's grandfather, Pookie/Gertrude's husband, and father to Miles. His nickname is Steely Phil. The nickname Steely comes from his undying support of American steelworkers, and later his great moves as president.

Although he gives often poor advice, and is rather goofy, Phil is a very great grandfather, and wants to do bad things to anyone who doesn't love Arnold. He calls Arnold by the nickname "Short Man". Phil has multiple grandsons, as told in 'Grandpa's Sister' when he responded disagreeing to a claim Arnold made about being his only grandson, due to Arnold not thinking about Phil's other son.

Phil has accomplished many things during his lifetime. He was a private in WWII, and through a strange chain of events, took out a company of German troops and made way for the American forces going to the Battle of the Bulge, and was the person who killed Adolf Hitler. He was also a champion Chinese checkers player and tied for first place with his long time checkers rival in the last city tournament. It was also revealed Phil never graduated from elementary school as a youth, being forced to drop out in order to aid his family during the Depression. In the episode "Back to School", he attended Arnold's school and successfully completed the sixth grade, and then ran a successful campaign for presidency, under the Alaskan Independence party.

Though Phil has come across many people who has been considered his rival, his archenemy is the rich Rex Smythe Higgins III. Their lifelong feud began at a boat competition when the two were children. Grandpa also is in peak physical condition for his age and can bench over 225 according to Gerald, and he can also do a one hand push-up. He also has a deep and unconditional love for all of his grandchildren. In many episodes, Phil goes out of his way in order to please one of his grandchildren, Arnold, but knows that he can never replace Arnold's parents. In the episode "Helga's Locket", he even took an awkwardly affection to Helga's infamous locket of Arnold. However, Phil loves to prank people and never passes up a chance for a good laugh at his grandson's expense.

In one episode, Grandpa reveals that Gertrude and he were in the same class as children during the Great Depression (there were no jobs back then). She had a huge crush on Phil, but could only express it by picking on him, much as Helga does with Arnold. This is a further hint of an eventual relationship for Arnold and Helga.

In the episode "Grandpa's Birthday", Phil claims that every man in his family is cursed to die at 81, which he will be in several days. Though he goes about life as if he's going to die, he does not die when he turns 81, when Arnold figures out that the family curse is 91, not 81. So, presumably, he will have 10 more years to live. This episode first aired on September 30th, 1998, which means that Grandpa Phil died on September 30th, 2008.