Linda Hart
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| Linda Hart | |
|---|---|
| Born | Dallas, Texas |
Linda Hart is an American singer, musician, and actress, mainly appearing in musical theatres. She is best known for originating the role of Velma Von Tussle in the Broadway adaptation of Hairspray.
As a child, Hart sang in her church choir; at age seven, she joined her father (a preacher) and the rest of the family in The Harts, a weekly gospel television series. Hart attended Los Angeles City College as a theatre major. During college, however, her family received a recording contract with Columbia Records; Hart joined them and moved to Nashville for the job. The group recorded several gospel albums, many nominated for Grammy Awards and one a winner.
Solo work included appearances with The New Christy Minstrels as their only female leader, a stint on Johnny Cash's ABC television show, and opening act performances for country musicians such as Hank Williams, Jr., Mel Tillis, Roy Clark, and The Oak Ridge Boys. She joined Bette Midler's backup troupe, the Staggering Harlettes, and later appeared in the Midler film Stella.
Hart's Broadway debut was in the 1987 revival of Anything Goes; for this role, she won a 1988 Theatre World Award. Subsequent roles included Sid Caesar & Company and 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 Hazard, Night Court, Hill Street Blues, Major Dad, Touched by an Angel, The Practice, Desperate Housewives, and others, starting in the early 1980s. Among her film appearances are Tin Cup, Get Shorty, and A Perfect World.
[edit] References
- Arnold, Monty. You Gotta Have Hart. Playbill, September 9, 2005. Retrieved November 4, 2006.
