Melissa Joan Hart facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Melissa Joan Hart
Hart in September 2017
Born	(1976-04-18) April 18, 1976 (age 49) Smithtown, New York, U.S.
Alma mater	Sayville High School
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1985–present
Spouse(s)	Mark Wilkerson ​ (m. 2003)​
Children	3
Parent(s)	Paula Hart (mother)
Relatives	Emily Hart (sister)

Melissa Joan Hart (born April 18, 1976) is an American actress. She is famous for playing the main characters in popular TV shows like Clarissa Explains It All (1991–1994), Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996–2003), and Melissa & Joey (2010–2015). She also appeared as Liz in No Good Nick (2019).

Melissa has acted in movies such as Drive Me Crazy (1999), Nine Dead (2009), and God's Not Dead 2 (2016). In 2021, she made history on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune by becoming the first celebrity to win the top prize of one million dollars for her charity, Youth Villages.

Early Life and Family

Melissa Joan Hart was born in Smithtown, New York. She is the first child of Paula Hart, who is a producer and talent manager, and William Hart, a carpenter and businessman. Melissa grew up in Sayville, New York.

Melissa has four younger siblings: Trisha, Elizabeth, Brian, and Emily. All of them have also acted. Her parents separated in the early 1990s. Melissa then moved to New York City with her mother and siblings. In 1994, her mother married Leslie Gilliams, who was known for being on MasterChef. Melissa also has three half-sisters: Alexandra, Samantha, and Mackenzie.

Melissa was named after the song "Melissa" by the Allman Brothers. Her middle name, Joan, comes from her grandmother.

Acting Career

Starting Out in Acting

Melissa Hart began her acting career at just four years old. Her first job was in a TV commercial for a doll called Splashy. Before she turned five, she had already appeared in 25 commercials!

She also had small roles in TV shows like the miniseries Kane & Abel (1985) and an episode of The Equalizer (1986). In 1986, she starred with Katherine Helmond in the TV movie Christmas Snow. In 1989, she was an understudy in a Broadway play called The Crucible.

Clarissa Explains It All

Hart on the set of Clarissa Explains It All at Nickelodeon Studios in 1991

In 1991, Melissa got the main role in the Nickelodeon TV show Clarissa Explains It All. This comedy was about a teenage girl dealing with everyday life. The show was very popular for its four years.

Her role as Clarissa earned her four nominations for the Young Artist Award, and she won three of them! She also starred as a tour guide in the video game Nickelodeon's Director's Lab. Melissa even recorded two albums as Clarissa.

After Clarissa Explains It All ended, Melissa filmed a pilot episode for a new show. It would have shown Clarissa as a college student working at a newspaper.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch

After Clarissa finished, Melissa went to New York University. But she left college when she got the main role in the 1996 TV movie Sabrina the Teenage Witch. This movie then led to the very popular TV series of the same name. The show ran for seven seasons on ABC and The WB.

Melissa also helped create an animated version of Sabrina. In this cartoon, Melissa voiced Sabrina's aunts, Hilda and Zelda. Her younger sister, Emily, voiced Sabrina. Melissa also made guest appearances on other shows like Touched by an Angel and Boy Meets World.

Hart participates in a March of Dimes event with her Melissa & Joey co-stars Joey Lawrence and Taylor Spreitler.

In 1999, Melissa starred in the movie Drive Me Crazy. To help promote the movie, Britney Spears released a special version of her song "(You Drive Me) Crazy". Melissa and her co-star Adrian Grenier even appeared in the song's music video. Britney Spears also made a guest appearance on Sabrina.

Melissa continued to star in Sabrina, the Teenage Witch until 2003. She also started directing episodes of TV shows. She directed an episode of Disney Channel's So Weird in 1999 and an episode of Nickelodeon's Taina in 2001. She also directed six episodes of Sabrina.

After Sabrina

After Sabrina ended in 2003, Melissa directed her first short film called Mute (2005). In 2007, she starred in the ABC Family movie Holiday in Handcuffs with Mario Lopez. This movie was very popular and had 6.7 million viewers. She then starred in another ABC Family movie, My Fake Fiancé, in 2009.

In 2009, Melissa competed on season nine of Dancing with the Stars with professional dancer Mark Ballas. They were eliminated in week six. In 2010, she starred in the horror movie Nine Dead.

Melissa & Joey

In 2010, Melissa returned to weekly television with a new sitcom called Melissa & Joey on ABC Family. She starred alongside Joey Lawrence. In the show, Melissa played a woman who hires Joey Lawrence as a nanny to help care for her niece and nephew. Melissa also directed an episode of Melissa & Joey.

Hart (center) with her mother (right) and moderator Damian Holbrook (left) promoting The Watcher in the Woods at the 2017 New York Comic Con

In 2013, Melissa released her memoir, a book about her life, called Melissa Explains It All: Tales from My Abnormally Normal Life. The book talked about growing up as a child actor, becoming famous, and balancing her career with being a mom and having a family.

Melissa & Joey finished in August 2015 after four seasons and 104 episodes.

Recent Work

In 2016, Melissa starred as Grace Wesley in the film God's Not Dead 2. In 2018, she was cast as Liz in the Netflix comedy series No Good Nick, which premiered in 2019.

She has also directed episodes of other popular TV shows, including The Goldbergs and Young Sheldon. Melissa returned to Nickelodeon by joining the voice cast of The Casagrandes, a spin-off of The Loud House, where she voices Becca Chang.

In 2022, Melissa starred in the Lifetime movie Dirty Little Secret, which was inspired by true events. In January 2022, she started hosting a podcast called What Women Binge with her friend Amanda Lee.

In 2023, Melissa competed on The Masked Singer as "Lamp". She also starred in the Lifetime movie Would You Kill for Me? The Mary Bailey Story. In 2024, she starred in the Lifetime film The Bad Guardian.

Business Ventures

Hart at her SweetHarts Candy Shop opening day, May 30, 2009

In May 2009, Melissa opened a candy shop called SweetHarts in Sherman Oaks, California. She said it had been her "childhood dream" to own a candy shop. SweetHarts closed in 2011 but later reopened with new owners before closing permanently in 2015.

In 2015, Melissa and her husband started their own clothing line called King of Harts.

Personal Life

On July 19, 2003, Melissa Hart married musician Mark Wilkerson. They met in May 2002. The preparations for their wedding in Florence, Italy, were shown in a TV miniseries called Tying the Knot.

Melissa and Mark have three sons: Mason (born 2006), Braydon (born 2008), and Tucker (born 2012). They lived in Westport, Connecticut, until 2019, then moved to Lake Tahoe, and in 2020, they moved to Nashville.

Melissa and her family are Presbyterians. She has said that they go to church every Sunday and pray every night and before every meal.

In March 2023, Melissa was near The Covenant School in Nashville when a shooting happened there. She helped some children who were running away get to safety. She later shared her experience, noting that she and her children were also near the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012.

Melissa has shown support for some Republican candidates in elections. She has also supported increased gun control, joining demonstrations by Moms Demand Action.

Filmography

TV Series

Movies

Dancing with the Stars Performances

Director Credits

Music Videos

Audiobooks

• 2013: Melissa Explains It All: Tales from My Abnormally Normal Life (read by the author), Macmillan Audio, ISBN: 978-1427232991

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Melissa Joan Hart para niños