Teenage Witch

Background:

"If they could promise me it wasn't camera-between-my-knees kind of shots, I would do it. I would do topless. I think it's empowering. Though if my mother had a real big problem with it, I'd have to say no right now." Melissa Joan Hart.

Initially receiving praise for portraying the title role in Nickelodeon's acclaimed series "Clarissa Explains It All" (1991-1994), Melissa Joan Hart later gained more recognition while starring as Sabrina Spellman in the hit WB's "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" (1996-2003). On the wide screen, Hart could be seen acting in such movies as Drive Me Crazy, Jesus, Mary and Joey, and will soon appear in the upcoming film Jack Satin.

"If your butt looks good, your outfit looks good." Melissa Joan Hart

Blue-eyed, blonde-haired Melissa stands at 5' 3" tall and has a cross tattoo on the back of her neck. She was listed as one of the most powerful celebrities according to the 2003 Forbes Top 100 Celebrity List. Her private life has included actors Adrian Grenier (had relationship 1998 during filming of Next to You) and James Fields (born 1974; together 1993-1998). She is currently the wife of Mark Wilkerson of the band Course Of Nature, with whom she is expecting her first child in January 2006.

Open Person

Childhood and Family:

"I'm a pretty open person. Like, if I have good sex, then the next day I'm going to tell everyone I know about it." Melissa Joan Hart Smithtown, Long Island born Melissa Joan Catherine Hart was raised in Sayville, New York. She was born on April 18, 1976, to parents William Hart (shellfish supplier) and Paula Hart (agent, TV producer). Melissa is the older sister of Emily Hart, (actress; May 9, 1986), Elizabeth Hart (actress; born on September 25, 1980), Trisha Hart (producer) and Brian Hart (born 1984). After her parents' divorce, her mother remarried Leslie Gilliams (TV executive) and gave Melissa two half sisters, actresses Samantha Gilliams (born on November 13, 1996) and Alexandra Hart Gilliams (November 22, 1993).

Melissa Joan Hart received the nicknames Mel, Half-pint, and Sa (from MelisSA and ClarisSA). She has attended the New York University via correspondence courses since January 1994. In October 1999, she put her art and literature studies on hold for 1 year because of her frantic schedule.

At a Kentucky Derby party in 2002, Melissa met hard-rock band "Course of Nature" guitarist Mark Wilkerson. They became engaged in October 2003 and exchanged wedding vows on July 19, 2003, in Florence, Italy.

Their marriage was aired on ABC Family, in the six-episode reality series called " Tying the Knot: The Wedding of Melissa Joan Hart." Recently the couple announced that they are expecting their first child in January 2006.

Melissa is a collector of Shirley Temple and Audrey Hepburn memorabilia. She wears a navel ring and enjoys her hobbies, snowboarding and collecting great paintings (she owns 3 Picassos).

Currently, she resides in Los Angeles and participates in various charity programs, primarily those that benefit children.


Explain It All

Career:

First appearing as a baby in a bathtub commercial called Splashy Bath, Melissa Joan Hart had worked in over 25 commercials by the age of five. Her agent mother landed her on TV shows, most notably in the much-admired Saturday Night Live show between 1985 and 1986. Meanwhile, she was spotted as a guest in the series "The Equalizer" and "Another World" as well as appeared in her debut TV movie, playing Con Sawyer's Little Sister in The Adventures of Con Sawyer and Hucklemary Finn (1985).

More TV work arrived. She was cast as seven-year-old Florentyna Rosnovski in the CBS mini series "Kane & Abel" (1985) and as Amy in the Emmy Award-winning television movie Christmas Snow (1986, alongside Katherine Helmond). Melissa also performed in a production of "Beside Herself" in 1989 (starring Lois Smith, William Hurt and Calista Flockhart) and "Imagining Brad" in 1990 under New York's Circle Repertory Lab Company, in which she became the youngest member.

In 1989, she was in the National Actors Theatre production of "The Crucible" (starring Martin Sheen) on Broadway, playing understudy to three of the children in the play.

Melissa got her first big break while starring as Clarissa Darling in the Emmy nominating series "Clarissa Explains It All." She starred in the Nickelodeon family comedy series from 1991 to 1994 and her bright performance received rave reviews, winning three consecutive Young Artist Awards for Best Youth Comedienne in a TV Show. On her character Clarissa, Melissa explained, "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." After playing roles in the TV movies Family Reunion: A Relative Nightmare (1995) and Twisted Desire (1996, NBC, as a teenage girl who conspires to kill her parents), Melissa received her second big break.

She was cast as "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" in a Showtime movie and later nabbed the title role of Sabrina J Spellman in the sitcom "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch." The fantasy comedy series was aired on ABC from 1996 to 2000 and then moved to WB until 2003. Melissa's portrayal of a sixteen-year-old high school student who discovers she is a witch received applause and handed her another Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Comedy - Leading Young Actress.

Meanwhile, Melissa also kept busy costarring with M.C. Hammer and sisters Elizabeth and Emily Hart in Showtime's family drama The Right Connections (1997). She played the leading role of Melanie Cambridge and eventually took home a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie or Feature Film - Young Ensemble. Her other TV movies including Two Came Back (1997), the college date rape drama Silencing Mary (1998), Sabrina Goes to Rome (1998) and Sabrina, Down Under (1999).

Melissa hosted A Magical Walt Disney World Christmas (1997), America's Teenagers Growing Up On Television (1998) and The Voyage to Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001). She also had an unaccredited role in the teen movie Can't Hardly Wait (1998, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt) and in Britney Spears' video, Time Out with Britney Spears (1999).

Along with Adrian Grenier, who played her next-door neighbor and ex-buddy, Melissa starred in the teen comedy Drive Me Crazy (1999). In the film helmed by John Schultz, based on Todd Strasser's novel, Melissa portrayed attractive and well-liked student Nicole Maris and received a Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actress.

Behind the screen, Melissa tried her hand as director in a January 2000 episode of "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" and continued to direct several other episodes. She also joined her mother as co-owner of the production company Hartbreak Films, which produces her TV show and several television movies, one of which was ABC's biopic "Child Star: The Story of Shirley Temple" (younger sister Emily Ann played the title role as a teenager).

Melissa lent her voice in Santa Mouse and the Ratdeer (TV), Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (both in 2000) and Recess: School's Out (2001). She also played Sunlight Grrrll in the superhero comedy The Specials (2000), played an unaccredited role in Not Another Teen Movie (2001), appeared in the straight-to-video crime drama Backflash (2001, opposite Jennifer Esposito) and was cast in the 2002 movies Rent Control and Hold On.

In 2003, Melissa played a role in James Quattrochi's romantic comedy Jesus, Mary and Joey. She is presently completing her approaching movie, Christopher Olness' drama comedy Jack Satin. In the film, Melissa will share the screen with Hamilton von Watts, Robert Guillaume and Alley Mills.


Awards:

Kids' Choice Awards: Favorite Movie Actress, Drive Me Crazy, 2000
Young Artist Awards: Best Performance in a TV Movie or Feature Film - Young Ensemble, The Right Connections, 1998
Young Artist Awards: Best Performance in a TV Comedy - Leading Young Actress, Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, 1997
Young Artist Awards: Best Youth Comedienne in a TV Show, Clarissa Explains It All, 1995
Young Artist Awards: Best Young Actress Starring in a Cable Series, Clarissa Explains It All, 1993
Young Artist Awards: Best Young Actress Starring in a Cable Series, Clarissa Explains It All, 1992