Melissa Joan Hart has spent most of her life in the public eye, but there might still be a few things you don’t know about this star.
As an actress, Hart crept into the hearts of Americans as Clarissa in "Clarissa Explains it All," before taking on the titular role of Sabrina in "Sabrina the Teenage Witch."
Since then, she’s added to her résumé: voice actress, director, producer, singer, fashion designer, and businesswoman, though it’s her role as a wife and mother that she says she’s most proud of.
Alert: Assess Your Risk of a Heart Attack in Minutes – Click Here Now
Here are five things you might not know about Melissa Joan Hart:
1. Melissa was just four when she first appeared on film — At the tender age of four, Melissa announced that she wanted to be on television. Her mom started taking her for auditions in New York and Hart ended up winning almost every role she auditioned for.
Her first, and probably best-known, commercial was for Splashy, a bathtub toy. Sadly, most of these ads are gone forever but, thanks to YouTube, you can still watch her advertisement for Tylenol:
2. She once owned a candy store — Hart fulfilled a lifelong dream of owning a candy store when she opened SweetHarts in Sherman Oaks, California, in 2009.
According to People magazine, the store was decorated in green and purple and sold 200 different kinds of candy.
Unfortunately, the store didn’t last very long and was closed two years later in 2011.
Vote Now: What Do You Think of President Donald Trump's Job Performance?
3. She's politically active — Hart vocally backed Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson in the 2016 election.
"I want to break away from this two-party system, and I think it's important for people to know that there's another candidate out there who really toes the line between Democrat and Republican," Hart told People magazine last year. "I mean he's libertarian. But socially he's liberal, but fiscally conservative."
4. She had a brief fling with Ryan Reynolds — Many girls would dream of a chance at dating Ryan Reynolds, but Hart turned the star down.
She wrote about the short-lived affair in her 2013 book "Melissa Explains It All: Tales from My Abnormally Normal Life." The two first met in 1996 while the "Deadpool" star was playing her crush on "Sabrina the Teenage Witch."
"He was very sweet. I had a boyfriend at the time but we were smitten and cute and he was adorable. He was a really, really nice guy, probably would have been a great boyfriend, and I didn't end up with the other guy, so maybe I should have taken a chance," Hart told Australian TV show Studio 10 in an interview earlier this year.
5. She’s a philanthropist — Hart and her family support a number of different causes through different projects.
According to E! Online, proceeds from Melissa’s King of Harts boys’ clothing line are donated to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and Youth Villages.
Last year, the actress helped raise funds for Friends of the Family and, more recently, she’s been raising awareness about childhood cancers.
Simple Quiz: Your Tiny Thyroid Linked to Heart, Obesity, 59 Diseases
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.