Martha Hart


Martha Joan Hart is a Canadian philanthropist and researcher who is the widow of professional wrestler Owen Hart. After her husband's death in an accident at a WWF event, Hart sued the World Wrestling Federation. She later wrote a bestselling book about her husband's life and founded a charity in his name. She has subsequently been involved in several legal cases involving her husband's image and has worked as a philanthropist and researcher.

Personal life

Hart was born Martha Joan Patterson on October 31, 1966, the youngest of 11 children. Her mother, Joan, battled breast cancer before Hart and her sister Virginia were born; her father left her mother when Martha was young. She completed two degrees at the University of Calgary in Psychology and Sociology before moving to England to complete a master's degree and a PhD in Social and Development Psychology at Cambridge University. She has since worked as a university researcher in the area of pediatrics.
She met her husband, Owen Hart, in 1982 at the age of 15, while they were both still in high school. She attended a Stampede Wrestling event with a friend, and met Owen after recognizing him as one of the wrestlers who attended her school for a wrestling practice. They married on July 1, 1989, and had two children together: Oje Edward Hart and Athena Christie Hart. Owen died while performing a stunt on May 23, 1999, at the World Wrestling Federation 's Over the Edge pay-per-view. As a result of the charitable contributions achieved through 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. Hart was named the 2017 Goodwill Ambassador for the Monaco International Film Festival. Hart has had a long standing relationship with this non-profit international special interest film festival and is also the Monaco International Film Festival's Vice President of the Angel Film Awards.

Professional career

Martha Hart, Ph.D., is a researcher at the University of Calgary/Alberta Children's Hospital. Her present research includes co-creating and pilot testing the Attachment and Child Health Intervention, which explores links between parental reflective function and parent/child attachment led by Nicole Letourneau. Hart presented findings on the program at a number International Attachment Related Conferences in New York, London, Miami, Prague; and in Vancouver. The ATTACH Program is funded by Harvard University's Centre for the Developing Child as one of their Frontiers of Innovation projects. In 2019, Hart and Nicole Letourneau launched their ATTACH™ Program online.
Hart completed two degrees at the University of Calgary before moving to England to join the Centre for Family Research at the University of Cambridge where she completed her Masters and Ph.D. programs in Social & Developmental Psychology under supervisor Claire Hughes. Hart worked as a researcher at the University of Cambridge with Ruth Gaunt for several years researching the division of labor in the family and parents’ child care choices before joining the team at the University of Calgary.
Hart's past research also consisted of working on a University of Cambridge-based longitudinal project investigating the early origins of children's problem behaviour/self-esteem within a diverse sample, and how social correlates predicts such characteristics, while focusing on children's friendship/sibling/teacher relationships, as well as mother's parenting style and mental states and the impact on children's social behaviour and mental states and prosocial behaviour in single/non-single mother households.
She has published various peer-reviewed papers and has co-edited Development and Adaptation: Seminal Papers on the Dynamic-Maturational Model of Attachment and Adaptation, published by Waterside Press, with another book in publication.
Hart was trained to administer the PDI at Yale University and the AAI by Howard Steele and Miriam Steele at the New School University New York, as well as Erik Hesse and Mary Main at Berkeley University. Hart is also trained by Howard Steele in RF, and in Reflective Family Play by Dianne Philip - at The Hincks-Dellcrest Centre Toronto. In addition, Hart trained with Alan Sroufe, and Elizabeth Carlson at the University of Minnesota, and Marinus van IJzendoorn at Cambridge University in the ABCD model of attachment, William Whelan in the MAC attachment measure at University of Virginia, as well as Patricia Crittenden in the DMM; she is a certified reliable coder in various attachment measures, RF measures, as well as a number of other parent/child interaction measures. She is also trained and certified in Suicide Prevention.
Hart is also a past recipient of the University of Calgary's prestigious Eyes High Post-Doctoral Award.

Lawsuits

Owen Hart's death

Three weeks after Owen's death, Hart launched a wrongful death lawsuit against the WWF, she included her children and Owen's parents 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. She gave 2 million dollars to Owen Hart's parents. 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. In the end she remained friends with only Keith, Wayne and Bret Hart out of Owen's ten living siblings.

Diana Hart's ''Under the Mat''

There is real-life tension between Martha and her sister-in-law Diana Hart-Smith. Martha sued Diana and claims that Diana's book, , is both slanderous and libelous, and had it removed from markets everywhere; 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.

Hart family DVD

On June 22, 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. On April 4, 2012, Judge Underhill agreed that Martha's claims against the WWE should go forward regarding the use of family/personal photos without her permission - copyright infringement, as well as breach of contract for not paying royalties from money made by the WWE from merchandise sold with Owen's likeness since his death in 1999. In April 2013, the lawsuit was settled.

Nancy Grace

On April 9, 2014, Nancy Grace of CNN/HLN ran a show on the death of The Ultimate Warrior; the segment focused on wrestlers who had died of drug abuse. During the discussion, a list of wrestlers who died 'young' scrolled up in the background, which included Owen Hart's name. Martha Hart wrote to CNN/HLN about the implication, which resulted in Nancy Grace delivering an on-air retraction/apology on April 14, 2014 about the mistake relating specifically to Owen Hart.

Book

In 2002, Martha Hart 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

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.
Every year, as a tribute to Owen Hart, Martha hosts a high-profile fundraising event for the Owen Hart Foundation. The 2000-2003 charity events were in support of YouVille Women's Residence, a shelter for abused women. Starting in 2004, the charity events have included a guest star; guest stars have included, Bob Newhart, 2004; Paul Anka, 2005; Neil Sedaka, 2006; Bill Cosby, 2007; Howie Mandel, 2008; Jerry Seinfeld, 2009–10th Anniversary; Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band, 2010; Russell Brand, 2011; Robin Williams, 2012; Steve Martin and Martin Short, 2013; Dane Cook, 2014–15th Anniversary. Seth Meyers performed on October 2 for the 2015 event. Elvis Costello performed on December 10, 2016 for the 17th anniversary of the OHF. In 2017, for Canada's 150th birthday, The Owen Hart Foundation wanted to honor a Canadian artist and therefore featured Sarah McLachlan on December 1, 2017 to mark their 18th anniversary. Famed actor and SNL superstar Alec Baldwin performed for the OHF's 19th anniversary annual event on November 30, 2018. The OHF announced that world famous comedian Jerry Seinfeld will make his return again as he did a decade ago as the headliner to commemorate the OHF's 20th Anniversary.
Hart has stated that she started the Owen Hart Foundation to create a meaningful legacy for Owen and because she knew he would be happy that she was helping people in his name, especially in the area of education which was very important to both of them.