A new sweet shop is coming to Westport. It’s got a very interesting back story — which may or may not be true.
Betsy Pollak — of the great Our Town Crier fame — sent a link to a post earlier today on Deadline Hollywood. Apparently, Melissa Joan Hart will help develop a new “family docuseries.”
The show will focus on the star of ABC Family’s “Melissa & Joey” show
and her ex-showbiz siblings as they open and operate Melissa’s dream dessert store – Sweet Harts – in her hometown of Westport, CT. After a failed attempt with other partners in Sherman Oaks, CA, Melissa is ready to try again – but this time, the right way. With her opinionated family by her side helping her, everyone is excited to see this dream to fruition – but of course, it wouldn’t be a dream without a little drama along the way.
“I did not know that she grew up here,” Betsy said.
Neither did I. For a very good reason: I don’t think she did.
A quick check of Wikipedia reveals:
Hart was born in Smithtown, New York, on Long Island, the first child of Paula, a producer and talent manager, and William Hart, a carpenter, shellfish purveyor, clam hatchery worker, and entrepreneur. Her maternal grandfather Stanley John Voje was a Navy Veteran and Catholic. Melissa grew up in nearby Sayville. Her parents had four other children after Melissa: Trisha, Elizabeth, Brian, and Emily, who are all in acting. Her parents were divorced in the early 1990s, and she moved with her mother and siblings to New York City.
Wikipedia lists her occuptions as “actress, director, producer, singer, fashion designer, business woman.” It does say that her current residence is “Westport, Connecticut.”
Melissa Joan Hart
Every journalist needs 2 sources. So I headed to IMDB:
Melissa grew up in Sayville, New York. Her acting career started at the age of four, when she did a commercial for a bathtub toy called Splashy. Her mother, Paula Hart, has been her agent from the beginning. Melissa is the oldest of eight children, some from her mother’s second marriage. Six sisters, Trisha Hart, Elizabeth Hart, Emily Hart, Alexandra Hart-Gilliams, Samantha Hart, and Mackenzie Hart who is the only sibling who never appeared on Melissa’s TV series “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” (1996). Her brother is Brian Hart.
According to Deadline Hollywood, “Sweet Harts” will also include Emily, Brian and Trish. No word as to whether Westport is their hometown too.