Dean Harry Anthony "Bizz" Hart (January 3, 1954 – November 21, 1990) was a Canadian professional wrestler, referee, wrestling as well as music promoter and member of the Hart family who wrestled in Canadian regional promotions during the 1970s and 1980s, most notably in the Calgary-based Stampede Wrestling. He was the son of Stu and Helen Hart and the younger brother of Smith, Bruce, Keith and Wayne Hart, as well as older brother of Ellie, Georgia, Bret, Alison, Ross, Diana and Owen Hart.
Early life[]
He was of Greek descent through his maternal grandmother and Irish through his maternal grandfather. His father was mainly of Scots-Irish descent but also had Scottish and English ancestry.
Hart was a dual citizen of Canada and the United States thanks to his mother Helen, who was born in New York.
He was nicknamed Bizz (or Biz) by his siblings. His sister Diana has claimed that it was because he was always so busy with working on something, but his brother Bret said in his autobiography that it was because he was always up to some mischievous business.
As a child he once accidentally started a fire in the Hart House while playing in the top floor.
Amateur wrestling[]
Hart was a good fighter and was the first of his siblings to win an amateur wrestling championship at high school.
Career[]
Pro wrestling[]
Stampede Wrestling and Amarillo[]
Born to Stu and Helen Hart, Dean Hart began wrestling in his father's Stampede Wrestling promotion along with younger brothers Bret and Owen Hart during the 1970s. He also helped out behind the scenes later on but remained mostly preoccupied with other endeavours during the 80s.
Hart worked together with his brothers Bret and Bruce in Dory Funk's Amarillo wrestling promotion in Texas during the very early 70s. They were invited to travel to Amarillo due to the fact that they and Funk had become very good friends. The three of them traveled there alone and Bruce Hart described the journey as something akin to Stand By Me as they ran into several misadventures along the way, including getting chased by people who mistook them for hippies due to their long hair.
National Wrestling Alliance, Hawaii[]
Hart vacationed many times and lived in Hawaii for lengthy times and befriended many wrestlers there, among them Prince Sui who would later work for his Stampede Wrestling on recommendation from Hart.
Hart was also later associated with Peter Maivia's Hawaii promotion, which was under the National Wrestling Alliance. Despite this he remained one of the Hart children with the least involvement with the wrestling business.
Music promoting[]
Hart held the first ever outdors concert in Calgary when he was nineteen years old, the event was called Fantasy Park and featured people such as Charlie Rich and comedian Billie Holiday as well as model Barbi Benton as a special guest.
Hart would regularly promote music concerts in Clearwater Beach, which was owned by his father. Some time during the 80s he and his brother Bruce booked the band Iron Butterfly to perform on the beach this proved lead to difficulties when some of the band members got intoxicated.
Some of Hart's rock concerts on the beach were mismanaged and did not turn a profit. This led to payment issues and resulted in the area being burned down.
Personal life[]
At some point in the early 80s Hart, perhaps unwittingly, got involved in the Samoan mafia, he helped transport some boxes which contained weapons. Later the gangsters threatened Hart's life since they believed that he would testify against them in court when they were facing murder charges.
Family[]
Hart and his girlfriend Tammy had a daughter named Farrah Hart, born in April 1990.
Death[]
He suffered serious injuries in 1978 when struck by a city bus, the accident severely damaged his kidneys. He told his family very little of the accident. Diagnosed with Bright's disease during the late 1980s, he eventually died of kidney disease on November 21, 1990 at the Hart family mansion. Hart was creamated.
Hart was the first of the Hart family to suffer an early death. His sister, Diana Hart, stated in her book that had any members of the Hart family been tested as a compatible donor, a kidney transplant might have saved his life. However, this option was never properly discussed by the family.
His brother Bret has stated that the family was aware of the possibility of a transplant but that Dean had not been following the doctors instruction about his diet and not done his daily dialysis as he had been told, this resulted in Dean dying unexpectedly at home before he could be taken to the hospital by their father.
Legacy[]
His death was the day before the WWF Survivor Series that year, and commentator Roddy Piper stated that Bret dedicated his match to Dean. Bret stated in a 2015 Sports Illustrated interview that the match felt important to him despite him losing it.
|
“I lost to [Ted] DiBiase at the end, but we had a nice little sequence there before we went into the finish and he beat me. I remember that being a salute to my brother Dean, a tribute to him. That match always had meaning to me.”
|
|
His sister Diana dedicated a chapter in her book Under the Mat: Inside Wrestling's Greatest Family, named "Dean", to him.
There is also a tribute video to Hart in his brother Bret's DVD documentary Bret "Hit Man" Hart: The Best There Is, the Best There Was, the Best There Ever Will Be.
A segment on the Hart family DVD Hart & Soul released by WWE is called "A letter from Dean" and focuses on his life and death.
In wrestling[]
- Nicknames
- Wild-Child
Championships and accomplishments[]
Amateur wrestling[]
- Ernest Manning High School amateur wrestling championship.
Professional wrestling[]
- NWA Mid-Pacific Promotions
- NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Steve Strong
- Stampede Wrestling
- Stampede British Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
