Host of E.T

Background:

American television personality Mary Hart, born Mary Johanna Harum, is famous as the host of the No.1 syndicated entertainment newsmagazine show in the world, “Entertainment Tonight.” She has been in the show since 1982. A finalist at the 1970 Miss America Pageant, Hart began her broadcasting career in Iowa with a public-service radio and TV program and moved to Oklahoma to become a host on the daytime program “Dannysday” (1976). Her first brush with fame arrived when Hart, who at the time co-hosted a Los Angeles local program, “PM Magazine,” was selected by Regis Philbin to co-host his NBC short-lived talk show (1982). After the cancellation of the show, she joined “E.T.,” first as their reporter and then as co-host.

In showbiz for over two decades, Hart was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1990 for her television work. She received the Silver Satellite Award for outstanding accomplishments in electronic communications and the Gracie Allen Award from the American Women in Radio & Television (AWRT) in 1998 and 2002, respectively. In 2006, she was honored with the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame Award.

The mother of 17-year-old AJ, her son with present husband Burt Sugarman, is an active supporter for children's charities and has been awarded with the first-ever Children's Miracle Achievement Award and the Samaritan Award from the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation (NABEF) for her work. Some of organizations she has been involved with include Children's Hospital Los Angeles, where she becomes a member of the Board of Trustees, the National Childhood Cancer Foundation, Childhelp USA and the American Heart Association. Besides, she became the mistress of ceremonies for the 2004 Heart Fund's Humanitarian of the Year Gala and has co-hosted the Children's Miracle Network telethon for many years.

English Teacher

Childhood and Family:

Mary Johanna Harum, who would later be popular as Mary Hart, was born on November 8, 1950, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Daughter of Dorothy Harum and sister of Michael and David, she moved with her family to Copenhagen, Denmark before her tenth birthday and stayed there for about three years. After that, she lived in Sweden and returned back to South Dakota in 1965 to attend high school. Three years later, Mary completed her study at the Augustana Academy in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and then began her tenure at several beauty contests. A Top 10 finalist at the 1970 Miss America pageant, she taught English in a high school in Sioux Falls after graduating from Augustana College in 1972 and moonlighted as the host of a local cable program. She did not pursue broadcasting full-time until after moving to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Mary has been married twice. She and first husband Terry Hart married for seven years from 1972 to 1979. On April 8, 1989, she married her true love and second husband, executive and businessman Burt Sugarman (born on January 4, 1937, in Los Angeles, California). A one-time producer, Sugarman received an Oscar nomination for his work in the 1986 movie “Children of a Lesser God.”

Currently resides in a rich part of Los Angeles, Mary and her husband welcomed a son named Alec Jay “AJ” Sugarman on December 24, 1991. Mary is a Jewish.

Regis Philbin Show

Career:

Mary Hart entered the 1969 Miss Sioux Falls beauty pageant and became the winner of the contest, in which she also won the swimsuit competition. She then won the title of Miss South Dakota 1970 and participated in that year's Miss America Pageant, in which she finished in the Top 10. Two years later, she became an English teacher in South Dakota and found a side job as the host of a local cable program. It was the latter job that brought Hart to Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1974, in which she developed a public service program broadcast on radio and TV, and within two years, she had moved to Oklahoma City to serve as a host and producer on the well-liked morning talk show “Dannysday.”

Hart headed to Los Angeles in 1979. She got a small part as Newscaster Betty Howard in the long-running soap opera “Days of our Lives” (1980) and did several TV commercials before becoming a co-host on the syndicated “PM Magazine” (1980-1982). The South Dakota native, however, did not experience her first break until Regis Philbin chose her to co-host the NBC talk and information show “The Regis Philbin Show” in 1982. Unfortunately for Hart, the daytime show was axed four months later.

Hart was interviewed by new syndicated TV show “Entertainment Tonight” about the cancellation of “The Regis Philbin Show.” The day after the interview, she was recruited as a field corespondent for the show and thanks to her quality, she soon nabbed the position as the show's co-host, which she still keeps until the present day. She has interviewed many celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor, Sean Penn, Tom Hanks and Olivia Newton John. The popular syndicated program has launched Hart to stardom.

Led by her TV success, Hart was invited to participate in the 1984 Olympic torch relay, during which time she carried the torch for a kilometer en route to Los Angeles. In 1987, she co-hosted NBC's “Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade” and endorsed L'eggs pantyhose. Besides, she has made a number of self-appearances in such TV series as “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,” “Cosby,” “JAG,” “Frasier” as well as in the movies “Love Affair” (1994), starring Warren Beatty and Annette Bening, “Stuck on You” (2003), directed by the Farrelly brothers, and more recently, director David Zucker's “An American Carol” and the Kevin Costner- starring vehicle “Swing Vote” (both 2008). In 2000, A&E network broadcast “Biography” series, which profiled Hart's journey from growing up in South Dakota to becoming one of the most acknowledged personalities in the world of entertainment broadcast journalism.

A part from her “E.T” work, Hart is known as a singe-dancer. She has been a regular performer in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and other venues and once performed in front of President and Mrs. Bush at the White House. In 1994, she released the album “Songs from the Heart,” a collection of children's lullabies.

Awards:

• American Women in Radio & Television: Silver Satellite Award

• American Women in Radio & Television: Gracie Allen Award

• National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation (NABEF): Samaritan Award

• Children's Miracle Achievement Award