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Date of birth (location): 18 April 1976, Smithtown, Long Island, New York, USA Was born at 1:30 p.m. on Easter Sunday. Her Zodiac sign is Aries.
Nickname: Mel, Halfpint, Sa (from "MelisSA" and "ClarisSA")
She is a petite 5'3" with beautiful blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes.
Jobs: primarily an actress, she's also a producer, a director, and a co-owner of Hartbreak Films with her mother Paula.
Parents: mother Paula Hart, an agent and TV producer, and father William Hart, a lobster wholesaler.
Stepfather: Leslie Gilliams, TV executive
Husband: Mark Wilkerson (of the band Course of Nature), Married: July 19, 2003.
Child:: Mason Walter Wilkerson (b. January 11, 2006)
Her acting career started at the age of four when she did a commercial for a bathtub toy called "Splashy". Her mother, Paula Hart, has been her agent from the beginning. Within four months, she had taped 20 commercials that aired nationally.
She further honed her skills in New York theater in the late 1980s as the youngest member of the Circle Repertory Lab Company.
Melissa made her Broadway debut opposite Martin Sheen in "The Crucible" (as understudy to three of the children in the play).
She also starred opposite William Hurt in the Circle Repertory production of "Beside Herself" in 1989, and in the same company's production of Peter Hedges' "Imagining Brad" in 1990.
Hart then broke through as a cable TV favorite (and a CableACE Award nominee) in the role of the precocious eponymous pre-teen on the Nickelodeon series "Clarissa Explains It All" (1991-1994). She was the first young actress to host a cable TV series on the network. She is a winner of three Youth in Film awards for her work, Melissa was nominated for a CableACE award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for "Clarissa Explains It All." The series was also nominated for a prime-time Emmy Award in 1994.
Quote: "With Clarissa, I just kind of went in and did it. I was just saying the lines. Now I concentrate more on the jokes, timing and acting." --Los Angeles Times, December 1996
Melissa was also kept busy supporting "Clarissa"-related projects during the early 1990's, including the popular Putnam book, "Clarissa's All-In-One Perfect Complete Book of Everything Important (Until I Change My Mind)," a series of "Clarissa" home videos, a "Clarissa" board game and several albums recorded for Sony Wonder. After the series ended, Melissa Joan Hart set her sights on feature films.
During the late 90s, she has been juggling acting and attending New York University. In 1996, she starred in the ABC TV series "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch", which is produced by Hartbreak Films, the production company run by her and her mother. She played the supernaturally gifted title teen in the series.
Hart also starred in several TV movies, including Family Reunion: A Relative Nightmare (1995), Twisted Desire (1996), The Right Connections (1997) and college date rape drama Silencing Mary (1998). Though Hart continued to produce and star in Sabrina, she also attempted to parlay her TV fame into movie stardom with the romantic comedy Drive Me Crazy (1999). The film, however, failed to perform as well as the Britney Spears tune that gave it its title. Hart raised eyebrows that same year when she tried to shed her squeaky-clean adolescent image with a racy photo spread and interview in lad magazine Maxim. Neither gambit affected Sabrina, although Hart and the series moved from the family-oriented ABC line-up to the youth-savvy WB in 2000. -- Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
Hart won a Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award for the movie "Drive Me Crazy", and made a memorable appearance as "yearbook girl" in the graduation night comedy Can't Hardly Wait.
She also appearred in TV series as a guest actress such as "Just Shoot Me" and "That 70s Show".
Her numerous television credits also include the Emmy Award-winning movie, "Christmas Snow"; the ABC film, "Family Reunion"; and the telefilm, "Twisted Desire," co-starring Daniel Baldwin.
Melissa has hit the talk show circuit, award shows, and other guest appearrances on occasion: The Conan O'Brien Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Regis and Kathie Lee Show, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, USA Live, The Kids Choice Awards, The American Music Awards, as well as several appearances on MTV. The View, RuPaul (who also did a guest stint in Sabrina), KTLA This Morning, and tons of Nickelodeon specials were more places to find Melissa back in those days.
Hartbreak Filks produced all types of family entertainment including the TV movies "Up, Up, and Away," "Doomrunners", "The Right Connections," and others including the two TV movies in 1998 and 1999 based on the "Sabrina" series. It also produced theatrical releases, talk shows for television, and other projects.
Hartbreak also produced a TV movie based on the autobiography of Shilrry Temple Black "Child Star," which aired in May 2001 on the anthology series "The Wonderful World of Disney."
Melissa cites Shirley Temple and Audrey Hepburn as early acting inspirations. She still collects Shirley Temple memorabilia.
Besides dozens of national commercials and voice-overs, Melissa has appeared in the NBC TV-movie Christmas Show, guested on The Equalizer, The Lucie Arnaz Show, Saturday Night Live and the late soap opera Another World. She also starred in the ABC Weekend Special The Adventures of Con Sawyer and Hucklemary Finn.
Hart worked actively for a variety of charities, acting as spokesperson for the Starlight Foundation, Audrey Hepburn's Hollywood for Children Fund, and Pediatric AIDS/Kids for Kids. She was the co-chair for the Children's Museum of Manhattan. Additionally, she was the 1995-96 spokesperson for the CDC Hepatitis B Immunization Program and participated in a nationwide press campaign with Dr. Ruth Westheimer. In the fall of 1998, Hart lent her voice to Harcourt Brace Company and the Starbright Foundation's "The Emperor's New Clothes: An All-Star Illustrated Retelling of the Classic Fairy Tale."
Performed in off-Broadway play "Beside Herself" with William Hurt and Calista Flockhart in 1989.
Small role in Crocodile Dundee (1986) was cut from the film.
Appearred in the commercials Jazzy Jewelry and Frosted Cheerios in 1995.
Appeared in underwear along with Yasmine Bleeth, Alyssa Milano, Peta Wilson, Garcelle Beauvais, Carmen Electra, Jamie Luner, and Jeri Ryan on the cover of and inside the October 1997 issue of "Details" magazine.
Raced in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Pro/Celebrity Race - April 15, 2000.
Has a "lazy eyelid" that causes her right eye not to open as wide as her left.
Was born without the teeth to either side of her two front teeth, a condition that was "fixed" in 1993.
Is vice-president of Hartbreak Films, a production company she runs with her mother, Paula Hart, and step-father, Leslie Gilliams.
In her spare time, she enjoys snowboarding and collecting Shirley Temple and Audrey Hepburn memorabilia.
Melissa wrote an advice column for the popular teen magazine Teen Beat during the 1990's.
Auditioned for the title role in Adrian Lyne's Lolita (1997).
Wears a navel ring.
Enjoys showboarding.
Can recite pi to 341 digits
Hobby: collects great paintings; owns 3 Picassos
Plays in the clip "Crazy" from Britney Spears.
Has a cross tattoo on the back of her neck.
October 1999 - Started collecting estate jewelry.
Melissa's 13 year old sister, Emily, provides the voice for the Saturday morning "Sabrina the Animated Series", which was spun off from Melissa's hit show.
(October 1999) Has attended New York University via correspondense courses since January 1994. She pursued a BA in a combination of art and literature classes, but put her studies on hold for 1 year due to her hectic filming schedules.
Auditioned for a role in Eyes Wide Shut (1999).
In 2000, she dated actor Bryan Kirkwood.
In 2000, "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" moved to the WB for its final three seasons.
Melissa actively works for many charities, including her role as spokesperson for the Starlight Foundation, Audrey Hepburn's Hollywood for Children Fund, Pediatric AIDS/Kids for Kids, and she is the co-chair for the Children's Museum of Manhattan. Additionally, she was the 1995-96 spokesperson for the CDC Hepatitis B Immunization Program, including a nationwide press campaign with Dr. Ruth Westheimer.
In "Robot Chicken" (2005), Melissa guested in the first season, titled "Operation Rich in Spirit" as Emily the Spy (voice). Notable in this episode that it contains a spoof of "Scooby Doo" featuring Linda Cardellini (who also did the live action Scooby Doo theatricals) as Velma Dinkley, Dave Coulier as Scooby Doo, Phyllis Diller as Herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar (who also did the live action Scooby Doo theatricals) as Daphne Blake, Don Knotts in one of his last roles as Himself, Matthew Lillard (who also did the live action Scooby Doo theatricals) as Norville 'Shaggy' Rogers, and Freddie Prinze Jr. (who also did the live action Scooby Doo theatricals) as Fred Jones.
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