Martha Hart
Encyclopedia
Personal life
Hart was born Martha Joan Patterson in 1966, and is the youngest of 11 children. Her mother, Joan, had battled breast cancer before Hart and her sister Virgina were born; her father left her mother when Martha was young. Education is very important to Martha. She has completed two degrees at the University of Calgary in Psychology and Sociology before moving to England to complete a Masters degree in Social and Development Psychology at Cambridge University, and as of 2010, is now in her final year of her PhD there. She met her husband, Owen HartOwen Hart
Owen James Hart was a Canadian professional and amateur wrestler who worked for several promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling , World Championship Wrestling , and most notably, the World Wrestling Federation , where he wrestled under both his own name, and ring name The...
, in 1982, while they were both still in high school. She attended a Stampede Wrestling
Stampede Wrestling
Stampede Wrestling is a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta and was for nearly 50 years one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies...
event with a friend, and met Owen after recognizing him as one of the wrestlers who attended her school for a wrestling practice. She later stated that it was love at first sight and their relationship was a dream come true. They married on July 1, 1989, and had two children together: Oje Edward Hart (born March 5, 1992) and Athena Christie/Christy Hart (born September 23, 1995). Owen died while performing a stunt on May 23, 1999 at the World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
(WWF)'s Over the Edge
Over the Edge (1999)
Over The Edge was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation , which took place on May 23, 1999, at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, USA...
pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
. As a result of the vast charitable contributions achieved through the good works of the Owen Hart Foundation, Martha was named Individual Philanthropist of the Year in 2004 by the AFP. She was Calgary's 2011 Champions of Learning.
Lawsuits
Three weeks after Owen's death, Hart launched a wrongful death lawsuit against the WWF, she included her children and Owen's parentsHart wrestling family
The Hart wrestling family is a Canadian family with a significant history within professional wrestling. The patriarch of the family is wrestling legend and WWE Hall of Famer Stu Hart, amateur and professional wrestler, promoter and trainer, who not only owned and operated his own wrestling...
on the lawsuit, which was settled out of court for approximately $18 million on November 2, 2000. She set aside millions of the settlement to establish the Owen Hart Foundation. She has managed the foundation since 1999. Some of the money also went into trust funds for her children, until they are 21. After the lawsuit, Martha separated herself from the majority of the Hart family. She criticized those family members who worked against her with the WWF. There is real-life tension between Martha and her sister-in-law Diana Hart-Smith
Diana Hart
Diana Joyce Hart-Smith is the youngest daughter of Canadian wrestling promoter Stu Hart and now his youngest living child. She is also the former wife of wrestler "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith and mother of former WWE superstar David Hart Smith. She was also the 1997 Mrs...
. Martha sued Diana and claims that Diana's book, Under the Mat: Inside Wrestling's Greatest Family
Under the Mat: Inside Wrestling's Greatest Family
Under the Mat: Inside Wrestling's Greatest Family is a book written by Diana Hart, ex-wife of professional wrestler Davey Boy Smith, and the mother of wrestler Harry Smith. -Plot summary:The book focuses mainly on the realities of professional wrestling...
, is both slanderous and libelous, and had it removed from markets; Martha was issued a public apology by the publishers, who were also required to give an undisclosed amount as a donation to the Owen Hart Foundation as stated in the settlement agreement. On June 22nd, 2010, Martha filed another lawsuit against Vince and Linda McMahon, this time for wrongfully using Owen's name and likeness in numerous DVDs under the WWE name, as well as for deceptive business practices, and not paying royalty payments to Owen's estate and his children.
Book
In 2002, she started writing a book entitled Broken Harts: The Life and Death of Owen Hart that was released in 2004, which is about their life together from when they met as teens and the life they created for their two children. Her book was a #1 Best Seller in Canada, and is now published in several countries including the United States and the United Kingdom, with all of her proceeds allocated to charity.Owen Hart Foundation
Every year, as a tribute to Owen Hart, Martha hosts a high profile fundraising event for the Owen Hart Foundation,attended by some of the biggest names in the entertainment community. In December 2000, she announced the opening of the Owen Hart Foundation; a Charity that provides university/college scholarships for children in need, as well as housing for low income families. The Owen Hart Foundation also supports a number of other worthwhile charities in the Calgary community. The first three charity events were in support of YouVille Women's Residence, a shelter for abused women. Every year, Martha hosts a Gala Charity Event with a guest star; in recent years, guest stars have included, Bob NewhartBob Newhart
George Robert Newhart , known professionally as Bob Newhart, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Noted for his deadpan and slightly stammering delivery, Newhart came to prominence in the 1960s when his album of comedic monologues The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart was a worldwide...
2004, Paul Anka
Paul Anka
Paul Albert Anka, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hit songs like "Diana'", "Lonely Boy", and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"...
2005, Neil Sedaka
Neil Sedaka
Neil Sedaka is an American pop/rock singer, pianist, and composer. His career has spanned nearly 55 years, during which time he has sold millions of records as an artist and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard...
2006, Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
2007, Howie Mandel
Howie Mandel
Howard Michael "Howie" Mandel is a Canadian stand-up comedian, television host, and actor. He is well known as host of the NBC game show Deal or No Deal, as well as the show's daytime and Canadian-English counterparts. Before his career as a game show host, Mandel was best known for his role on...
2008, Jerry Seinfeld
Jerry Seinfeld
Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television and film producer, known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy Seinfeld , which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons,...
2009 - 10th Anniversary, Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
and his All Starr Band 2010, Russell Brand
Russell Brand
Russell Edward Brand is an English comedian, actor, columnist, singer, author and radio/television presenter.Brand achieved mainstream fame in the UK in 2004 for his role as host of Big Brother spin-off, Big Brother's Big Mouth. His first major film role was in the 2007 film St Trinians...
, 2011. Martha has stated that she started the Owen Hart Foundation to create a meaningful legacy for Owen and because she knew Owen would be happy that she was helping people in his name, especially in the area of education, as education was very important to him and Martha.