Awesome article on the HART family

[GoldenBear]

Whether you enjoy wrestling or not, this is a great read detailing a whole lot one of the most prosperous but tragical families outside the ring.

From the tough childhoods of the Harts to the loss of Owen, it's all here..

http://www.saturdaynight.ca/articles/topstory2.asp

<< stu hart still does his grocery shopping on Saturdays, and spends every Sunday helping to cook the family meal, but these days, only a diminished brood shows up. I asked him if he worried about his family. &quot;Very much,&quot; he told me. &quot;I don't know how to approach things. I'm embarrassed. It's an ugly situation.&quot;

Ellie doesn't visit much any more. Her brother Bret has declared her persona non grata; the last time she appeared for a Sunday dinner, they got into a terrible spat. &quot;He told me that I should be ashamed of myself, that I sold myself to the devil. I just told him to go to hell.&quot; Bret spat on her, Ellie claims, before pushing her daughter and leaving a dent in their car with his boot.

Last summer, fire destroyed a guesthouse on the Hart estate; investigators believed it may have been arson, but have not named any suspects. That was followed by another disturbing episode at the house, when one of Ellie's sisters slapped her own son across the face. The boy responded by putting her in a headlock. His older cousin jumped into the fray, and began pulling on her hair. He then attacked her car, smashing its windows with a shovel and slashing its tires.

Last October, after suffering a serious concussion during a WCW match, Bret retired from professional wrestling. There was no fanfare, no tribute, nothing. He smashed one of his father's favourite wooden chairs just before his parents put their names on Martha's settlement. In what appears to be an unrelated matter, Calgary police arrested Davey Boy Smith the same month. He was charged with leaving threats on Ellie's answering machine, and threatening to kill his estranged wife, Diana. In December, the Crown dropped all four criminal charges against him; a smiling Davey Boy left the courthouse on the arm of Andrea Hart. (Andrea is Bruce Hart's wife.) By year's end, Bruce accused Davey Boy of making more dire threats, this time directed at Bruce himself.

Ellie's marriage to Jim (the Anvil) Neidhart is on life-support, following a series of ugly domestic incidents. Jim, she claims, fled their home with most of the family furniture in the back of his truck. &quot;Yes, I have called the police on my husband,&quot; she told lawyers in a deposition last year. &quot;My husband has had a problem with drugs and alcohol since long before I ever knew him,&quot; she attested. She won't leave him, though. She'll never ask for a divorce. She loves her husband. &quot;It's crazy,&quot; she says. &quot;The whole family is crazy.&quot;

She understands why Martha will never return to the fold. &quot;We've always been an embarrassment to her,&quot; Ellie says. She pauses for a moment, and coughs. &quot;We've been through way more than we should have, though.&quot; >>

 

[TheDennis]

That part of the article there is very interesting. I can't wait to get home to read the rest.

 

[i8mywindpipe]

Wooo Dude...
thats pretty fu**ed up right there

 

[damocles]

When i was younger i really loved the Hart family- although i didn't think much of Max or Freeway. I didn't know they wrestled though

 

[dawks]

My uncle has a cabin about 100 feet away from a Hart Family cabin..

 

[GoldenBear]

Here's another gruesome excerpt on Owen's death:

<< At 7:40 in the evening, dressed in full Blue Blazer regalia, Owen climbed to the top of the Kemper Arena and moved along a steel catwalk traversing its rafters. He strapped on a nylon rappelling harness. This was then clipped to a long braided rope by means of a quick-release metal snap. WWF stunt coordinators directed him to the edge of the catwalk. He stepped over the railing and hung on, dangling almost eighty feet over the arena floor, waiting for the instruction to let go. When the word came, Owen released his grip.

He was supposed to sail down the rope, slow his fall using a braking device, and land squarely on the wrestling mat directly below, ready to do battle. Owen had practised the stunt earlier in the day, and it had gone smoothly. This time, however, the quick-release clip opened, disconnecting him from his lifeline. He plummeted straight down and bounced off a ring post, chest-first, before landing in a heap on the mat. He raised his head slightly and then let it hit the canvas, where he lay motionless, his cape splayed awkwardly around him.

Some fans inside the arena cheered, thinking they had just witnessed another audacious WWF manoeuvre. Ring officials and paramedics rushed to Owen's side. An announcer informed the crowd that Hart had been injured. His left arm had shattered; a gaping laceration around the elbow was exposed to the bone. A stiff cervical collar was secured around his neck and he was carted from the ring on a stretcher, an endotracheal tube inserted in his mouth so that oxygen could be pumped to his lungs. It was no help. Owen's thoracic aorta, the main artery to his heart, had been almost severed when his chest hit the ring post; his lungs had immediately flooded with blood. Death came quickly. >>

 

[GoldenBear]

<< My uncle has a cabin about 100 feet away from a Hart Family cabin.. >>

Wow, so how are the Harts treated up north exactly? I remember at Canadian Stampede there was a line literally a mile long for autographs from them.

Is that flame still burning?

 

[Rudee]

I knew the Hart family very well.

Owen and I use to chum around a bit when we were younger. A Saturday afternoon spent at Lloyds Rollercade was common. Owen was a year older than me.

I've personally met each and every member of the Hart family with exception to Ross and Wayne. Bruce and Keith would tease me quite a bit when they would occasionally substitute teach at my school when I was much younger. Bruce Hart later married a friend of mine named Andrea - whom now is with Davy (long story).

Anyway, having known the Hart family for as long as I have, it's a shame to see the tragedies they have been through.