Linda Hart (born July 5, 1950) is an American singer, musician, and actress, mainly appearing in

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

Life and career

Hart was born in

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, United States. As a child, Hart sang in her church choir; at age seven, she joined her father, the late Rev. Ralph L. Hart, (a preacher) and the rest of the family in ''The Harts'', a weekly

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

television series. Her father and uncle, the Rev. Doyle Hart, visited Detroit in 1954 and cut a 45 of "Ain't No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down", later released by Ralph Hart and The Texas Musical Harts. Hart attended

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campu ...

as a theatre major. During college, however, her family received a recording contract with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

; Hart joined them and moved to

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...

for the job. The group recorded several gospel albums, many nominated for

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

s and one a winner. Solo work included appearances with '' The New Christy Minstrels'' as their only female leader, a stint on

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his c ...

's ABC television show, where she also served as a talent coordinator for an episode, and opening act performances for

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

ians such as

Hank Williams, Jr. Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), known professionally as Hank Williams Jr. or Bocephus, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of southern rock, blues, and country. He is the son o ...

, Mel Tillis,

Roy Clark Roy Linwood Clark (April 15, 1933 – November 15, 2018) was an American singer and musician. He is best known for having hosted '' Hee Haw'', a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969 to 1997. Clark was an important and influe ...

, and

The Oak Ridge Boys The Oak Ridge Boys are an American country and gospel vocal quartet originating in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The group was founded in the 1940s as the Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular in Southern gospel during the 1950s. Their name was chang ...

. She joined

Bette Midler Bette Midler (;'' Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received numerous accolades, including four Golden ...

's backup troupe, the Staggering Harlettes, and later appeared in the Midler film '' Stella'' and the television special of '' Gypsy: A Musical Fable'' in 1993, which also starred Midler. She also costarred as Minnie Driver’s mother in the film “Beautiful”.

Later career

Hart's Broadway debut was in the 1987 revival of

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

's '' Anything Goes''; for this role, she won a 1988

Theatre World Award The Theatre World Award is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or Off-Broadway. It was first awarded for the 1945–1946 theatre se ...

. Originally portraying Erma, she later played the role of Reno Sweeney. Subsequent roles included ''Sid Caesar & Company'' and originated the role of Velma Von Tussle in '' Hairspray''. On television she had a starring role in the short-lived sitcom '' The Winner'' in 2006. Prior to this she had appeared in episodes of '' The Dukes of Hazzard'', '' Night Court'', ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station loca ...

'', ''

Major Dad ''Major Dad'' is an American sitcom television series created by Richard C. Okie and John G. Stephens, developed by Earl Pomerantz, that originally ran from September 17, 1989, to May 17, 1993 on CBS, starring Gerald McRaney as Major John D. ...

'', '' Touched by an Angel'', ''

The Practice ''The Practice'' is an American legal drama television series created by David E. Kelley centering on partners and associates at a Boston law firm. The show ran for eight seasons on ABC, from March 4, 1997, to May 16, 2004. It won an Emmy ...

'', ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a t ...

'', and others, starting in the early 1980s. Among her film appearances are ''

A Perfect World ''A Perfect World'' is a 1993 American crime drama film directed by Clint Eastwood. It stars Kevin Costner as an escaped convict who takes a young boy ( T. J. Lowther) hostage and attempts to escape on the road with the child. Eastwood co-stars ...

'', '' Get Shorty'', '' Tin Cup'' and '' Showtime''. She performed in the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

run of the musical '' Catch Me If You Can'' as Carol at the 5th Avenue Theatre, from July 28, 2009 to August 14, 2009, and returned to the role when the show premiered on Broadway in April 2011.Hetrick, Adam
"Broadway-Aimed ''Catch Me If You Can'' Ends Seattle Premiere Run Aug. 16"
playbill.com, August 16, 2009

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Linda 1950 births Living people American musical theatre actresses American television actresses Los Angeles City College alumni People from Dallas American women country singers Harlettes members The New Christy Minstrels members 21st-century American women