Linda Hart

Linda Hart, born July 5, 1950, in Dallas, Texas, is an American actress, singer, and musician whose career spans gospel recordings, television, film, and Broadway musical theatre.

Hart's early exposure to performance came through her church choir and a weekly gospel television series called The Harts, which she joined at age seven alongside her father, the Rev. Ralph L. Hart, and other family members. Her father and uncle, the Rev. Doyle Hart, had previously traveled to Detroit in 1954 to record a 45 of "Ain't No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down," later released under the name Ralph Hart and The Texas Musical Harts. Hart pursued theatre studies at Los Angeles City College, but her academic path shifted when the family secured a recording contract with Columbia Records, prompting a move to Nashville. The group recorded multiple gospel albums, several of which received Grammy Award nominations and one of which won.

Her solo work brought additional visibility across multiple genres and platforms. She served as the only female leader of The New Christy Minstrels and appeared on Johnny Cash's ABC television program, where she also functioned as a talent coordinator for one episode. She opened for country artists including Hank Williams, Jr., Mel Tillis, Roy Clark, and The Oak Ridge Boys. Hart subsequently joined Bette Midler's backup group, the Staggering Harlettes, a connection that extended into film and television work with Midler, including the movie Stella and the 1993 television special Gypsy: A Musical Fable. She also costarred as Minnie Driver's mother in the film Beautiful, and her other film credits include A Perfect World, Get Shorty, Tin Cup, and Showtime.

Television appearances beginning in the early 1980s included episodes of The Dukes of Hazzard, Night Court, Hill Street Blues, Major Dad, Touched by an Angel, The Practice, and Desperate Housewives, among others. In 2006, she held a starring role in the short-lived sitcom The Winner.

Hart made her Broadway debut in the 1987 revival of Cole Porter's Anything Goes, initially in the role of Erma before later taking on the role of Reno Sweeney. The performance earned her a Theatre World Award in 1988. She went on to appear in Sid Caesar & Company and originated the role of Velma Von Tussle in the musical Hairspray. Hart performed as Carol in the Seattle run of Catch Me If You Can at the 5th Avenue Theatre from July 28 to August 14, 2009, and reprised the role when the production opened on Broadway in April 2011, extending her Broadway career from 1979 through 2011.