Melissa grew up in Sayville, New York. Her acting career started at
the age of four when she did a commercial for a bathtub toy called
"Splashy". Her mother, Paula Hart, has been her agent from the
beginning. Melissa has five younger sisters, Trisha, Elizabeth,
Emily, Alexandra and Samantha, and one younger brother, Brian. All
but the youngest sibling, Samantha, have been "in the business" in
some capacity; Elizabeth, Emily and Brian have appeared on
Melissa's current TV series, "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch". Melissa
performed in two plays as the youngest member of New York's Circle
Repertory Lab Company: "Beside Herself" in 1989 (starring Lois
Smith and William Hurt) and "Imagining Brad" in 1990. She was also
in the National Actors Theatre production of "The Crucible" on
Broadway with Martin Sheen (as understudy to three of the children
in the play). Melissa cites Shirley Temple and Audrey Hepburn as
early acting inspirations. She still collects Shirley Temple
memorabilia. For the past few years, she has been juggling acting
and attending New York University. She's now living in the Los
Angeles area, starring in the ABC TV series "Sabrina, the Teenage
Witch" (1996), which is produced by Hartbreak Films, the production
company run by her and her mother.
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