Rebecca Gayheart

Cruz' parents also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her. In 2003, Hart and her production company, Hartbreak Films, produced a miniseries entitled Tying the Knot, documenting her wedding to musician Mark Wilkerson, a member of the band Course of Nature. She subsequently pleaded no contest to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter and was sentenced to a one year suspension of her license, three years probation, a $2800 fine, and 750 hours of community service. She has appeared in other movies since Drive Me Crazy, but none have brought her as much recognition. Nine-year-old Jorge Cruz, Jr was crossing the street in the middle of the block when Gayheart pulled out of a line of cars to make a left turn. Gayheart struck and mortally injured Cruz. Hart also appeared in the music video for this song. On June 13, 2001, Gayheart was driving in Los Angeles. In 1999, Melissa landed a small part in a movie named Can't Hardly Wait, and then starred in Drive Me Crazy, a movie that includes "(You Drive Me) Crazy", a number-one hit by Britney Spears, on its soundtrack.

Gayheart was engaged to director Brett Ratner but the couple seperated. Gayheart married actor Eric Dane on October 29, 2004. In between, she also worked on the series Touched by an Angel and starred in several TV movies. Gayheart has appeared in several films, most often horror films or comedies aimed at a teenage audience: Somebody Is Waiting (1996), Nothing to Lose (1997), Scream 2 (1997), Hairshirt (1998), Urban Legend (1998), Jawbreaker (1999), Puppet (1999), From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (2000), Shadow Hours (2000), Doppelganger (2001), Harvard Man (2001), and Pipe Dream (2002). But acting called upon her once again, and in 1994, she got the main role for the TV movie Sabrina the Teenage Witch, which eventually led to her also starring as Sabrina in a television series which lasted seven seasons. She has also been a regular on the television series Earth 2 (1994), Wasteland (1999), and Dead Like Me (2003) and has a re-occurring role on Nip/Tuck (2004). After the series was canceled, she decided to invest in higher education and went to New York University. In 1995, she had a recurring role in the series Beverly Hills, 90210. The show brought her four consecutive Young Artist Award nominations, of which she won three, and made her a household name among American teenagers.

In 1992, she joined the cast of the soap opera Loving. The Nickelodeon series, a comedy about a teen girl in everyday situations, became a big hit and aired for four seasons. Gayheart became well known from her appearances in a series of commercials for Noxzema skin cream beginning in 1991. This paved the way for her to land the title role in the TV show Clarissa Explains It All. She moved to New York City at 15 where she completed her education at New York's Professional Children's School and the Lee Strasberg Institute and began a career acting and modeling.
In 1989, she auditioned for a Broadway production of The Crucible starring Martin Sheen, becoming an understudy to three of the young girls in the play. She is a coal miner's daughter. Other early TV work included a small role in the miniseries Kane & Abel in 1985, a guest-starring role in an episode of The Equalizer in 1986, and a starring role alongside Katherine Helmond in the emmy award-winning TV movie Christmas Snow, also in 1986.

Gayheart was born in Hazard, Kentucky and raised in nearby Pinetop. From then on, she appeared regularly in commercials, making 25 of them before the age of five. Rebecca Gayheart (born August 12, 1972) is an American actress. When she was still a baby, she made her first TV commercial for a bathtub toy called Splashy. Hart's career began early on. Her stepmother is the former Lisa Hunt of Sayville.

Sister Trisha Hart has worked as a producer. Most of her siblings have acted, among them Elizabeth Hart, Brian Hart, Emily Hart, and Alexandra Hart-Gilliams. Her immediate family includes her father, William Hart, her mother Paula Hart, her stepfather, television executive Leslie Gilliams, eight sisters (three of them stepsisters) and one brother. Her full name is Melissa Joan Catherine Hart, Catherine being the name she chose for her confirmation in eighth grade.

Hart was born in Smithtown, New York, on Long Island, and grew up in Sayville, New York. Melissa Joan Hart (born April 18, 1976) is an American actress who is best known for playing the title roles in two successful television series, Clarissa Explains It All and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.