David Hart

David Hart, born February 6, 1954, is an American actor and singer who has worked across Broadway, television, and film. Raised primarily by his mother, Jeanette Lassiter Anderson, in Panama City, Florida, Hart attended local schools before his father, Lloyd Hart Jr., saw him perform in a production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown at Rutherford High School. That performance prompted his father to encourage him to enroll at Chipola Junior College in Marianna, Florida, where Hart received an acting scholarship.

Hart made his Broadway appearance in 1974 and later returned to the stage in Fool for Love. His regional theater work has included the role of Charlemagne in Pippin and Oscar in The Odd Couple.

Television audiences came to know Hart primarily through his long-running role as Officer and later Sergeant Parker Williams on In the Heat of the Night, a part he held from 1988 to 1995. His other television appearances include Aaron's Way in 1988, Picket Fences in 1996, Before Women Had Wings in 1997, Party of Five in 1998, and The Practice in 2000.

His film career spans several decades, beginning with The Island in 1980 and continuing through such titles as Legal Eagles, Silver Bullet, Fandango, The River, Disorganized Crime, The Real McCoy, Three Wishes, To the Limit, The House on Carroll Street, War Party, and Forgiven: The Legend of Jake Kincaid, among others.

In 1991, Hart recorded the song "Let It Snow" for the In the Heat of the Night Christmas album Christmas Time's A Comin', accompanied by Nashville studio pianist Hargus "Pig" Robbins. The recording was produced by his co-stars Randall Franks and Alan Autry. Hart has also appeared in commercials for IHOP Restaurants, Maxwell House Coffee, Coors Light, John Deere, Pillsbury, and GE.

Hart is married to Anne Tabor and has three children from a previous marriage, one of whom is author, actress, comedian, and YouTuber Mamrie Hart.