(born November 8, 1950) is an American television personality and has been the host of the syndicated gossip and entertainment round-up program Entertainment Tonight since 1982.
Early life
Mary Hart was born Mary Johanna Harum in Madison, South Dakota and lived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as well as in Denmark, as a child and teenager. She speaks both Danish and Swedish fluently. Hart competed in the Miss America pageant in 1970 as Miss South Dakota, and finished in the top ten. Two years later, Hart graduated from Augustana College in Sioux Falls and produced and anchored her own cable TV talk show. That led to jobs on the air in Iowa and Oklahoma. She worked for WKY-TV (now KFOR-TV) in Oklahoma City where she stayed for a period of time as co-host on the television show Dannysday with Danny Williams. She was married to Terry Hart from 1972 to 1979.
Career
Mary began her TV career at KMTV, the CBS station in Omaha, NE. In 1976, she went to KTVY (now KFOR-TV) in Oklahoma City, where she co-hosted a show called Dannysday. Determined to leave journalism behind, she moved to the Los Angeles neighborhood of Westwood in 1979 with $10,000 in the bank. Hart landed a small role on the soap opera "Days of our Lives," as well as some TV commercials. Almost broke, she became a co-host on a Los Angeles local program, "PM Magazine." That led to a job in 1981 as co-host of Regis Philbin's first national talk show. When that show was canceled four months later, "Entertainment Tonight" interviewed her about what it felt like to be canceled. The day after the interview, she was hired as an "E. T." correspondent. Thirteen weeks later, she was named the show's co-host, along with Ron Hendren.
In 1984, Hendren was replaced by Robb Weller, who was replaced by John Tesh in 1986, who was replaced by Bob Goen in 1996. Soon after her hiring by ET, Hart chose Jay Bernstein as her manager. Hart is known for her shapely legs, leading to an endorsement contract with Hanes for that company's line of pantyhose in 1987. Jay Bernstein also had her legs insured for $1 million each. In 1991, the New England Journal of Medicine reported that Hart's voice had triggered seizures in an epileptic woman. This was later referenced in an episode of Tiny Toon Adventures and the NBC sitcom Seinfeld, where Kramer (Michael Richards) suffers from convulsions whenever he hears Hart's voice.
Hart has been parodied in Animaniacs in the character "Mary Heartless". She had also voiced a cartoon character named "Fairy Hart" in an episode of The Fairly OddParents where Bob Goen voiced "Bob Glimmer", and in The Fairly Oddparents TV movie, Fairly OddBaby.
In May 2009, Hart suffered a broken left wrist[7] due to an accident at home (not due to any exotic activity, despite her jokes about it). While the wrist was healing, she wore various brightly colored slings designed to match or complement her wardrobe for each show.
On August 5, 2010, Hart announced that she was leaving the show at the end of the upcoming 30th season, citing that she was ready for a change.
Personal life
Hart lives in Los Angeles, California with her film-producer husband, Burt Sugarman. They married in 1989 and have one son. She is also a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Preceded by
Dixie Whatley Co-host of Entertainment Tonight
1982–present Succeeded by
incumbent
(source:wikipedia)
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