Bret Hart: Encyclopedia II - Bret Hart - Personal life

Bret Hart - Personal life

Hart has four children—Jade, Dallas, Alexandra and Blade—with his ex-wife, Julie. The four hearts located on the right thigh of his tights symbolizes his four children, as do the four dots following his signature. On September 15, 2004, he married an Italian woman named Cinzia.

When Hart began the controversial "Canada versus America" angle, he was criticised in public, accused of being a racist and often told by angry American fans to "go back where you came from". Hart responded in an interview with the Calgary Sun, stating that "[there is] a difference between a show and reality". In actuality, Hart possesses dual citizenship as a result of his mother having been born in Brooklyn, New York, New York in the United States.

He was involved in a similar racial controversy during an angle that saw the Hart Foundation vandalise the locker room of the African American Nation of Domination stable, and was further criticised when he taunted Shawn Michaels and Triple H with homophobic insults. After leaving the WWF, Hart apologised for the angles, claiming that he had been pressured into going through with them and stating that "...I am not in any shape or form a racist. And I don't believe it is anything to kid around about. I also want to apologize for any remarks I made about gay people. It was a stupid mistake on my part."

From 1995 to 1996 Hart appeared in the Lonesome Dove television series as Luther Root. He has made numerous televised appearances since, including a guest spot on The Simpsons in 1997 (as himself, in "The Old Man and the Lisa") and a stint playing the genie in a theatrical production of Aladdin in 2004.In the late 1990s, Bret was briefly considered to play Batman (see Batman Begins, trivia).

In 2002, Hart suffered a stroke after falling off his bicycle. He has made considerable progress since then, although he will never fully recover.

Hart co-wrote an illustrated autobiography with Perry Lefko in 2000. The book, entitled Bret "Hitman" Hart, was somewhat concise, and focused primarily on Hart's World Championship Wrestling tenure. Hart regularly wrote a column for the Calgary Sun until October 2004. He is now working on a multi-volume autobiography.

In 2004, Hart was chosen as one of the Greatest Canadians, coming in at number thirty-nine. He was also the advocate for Don Cherry during the televised portion of the competition. Hart was ranked number #32 in Time Magazine's "Greatest Canadians of All Time" article.

The Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League took their name from Hart, who was a part-owner.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Personal life", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki