Julie Hart - Hart Strings

HART

STRINGS

Paul Jay: Are you looking forward to the day that Bret hangs up his boots?

Julie Hart: Ive been waiting since the day he was twenty-five. Its been eighteen years now, and Im sure its always going to be the same.

Paul Jay: But youve had enough.

Julie Hart: YesYes, I haveI think its time to be normal.

From the film Wrestling with Shadows ,

directed by Paul Jay (1998, High Roads Production)

HART

STRINGS

My Life with Bret and The Hart Family

by Julie Hart

Copyright Julie Hart, 2013

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior permission of the publisher or, in the case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a license from Access Copyright, the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency,

www.accesscopyright.ca, info@accesscopyright.ca.

Tightrope Books Inc.

167 Browning Trail

Barrie, Ontario

Canada L4N 5E7

www.tightropebooks.com

Editors: Nathaniel G. Moore, Deanna Janovski

Copy Editor: Jessica Hale

Cover Design: Deanna Janovski

Typesetting: David Bigham

Produced with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts

and the Ontario Arts Council

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Hart, Julie

Hart strings / Julie Hart.

ISBN 978-1-926639-63-5

1. Hart, Julie. 2. Hart, Bret. 3. Hart family. 4. Wrestlers

Spouses--Alberta--Calgary--Biography. 5. Wrestlers--Alberta--

Calgary--Biography. I. Title.

Printed in Canada

This book is dedicated to the memory of my brother Mark

Contents

Prologue:
Romeo and Juliet

Part One:
The Wild Years
(1970s)

Part Two:
From Calgary with Love
(1980s)

Part Three:
The Roaring
1990s

Part Four:
Writing with Shadows
(2000-present)

Part Five:
Hart Strings

A glooming peace this morning with it brings;

The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:

Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;

Some shall be pardond, and some punished:

For never was a story of more woe

Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.

Romeo & Juliet , William Shakespeare

Prologue:
Romeo and Juliet

In the spring of 1996, Bret called from South Africa, where he was filming Sinbad , to ask if I wanted to come see him. He had been there for a couple of weeks and sounded lonely. I was thrilled he wanted me to come, as we hadnt been getting along so well. He kept telling me how amazing it was there, and that I needed to see it for myself. Hed made friends with some really cool people and said they would take great care of us. The cast was really friendly, especially this guy Robin, who had become a buddy of Brets. Bret said Robin was huge and would be perfect for the WWF. He told me to book a babysitter; hed take care of the rest.

I asked our friend Wanda if she would watch the kids for a couple of weeks, and she said no problem. Bret called back to tell me hed booked a bed and breakfast for us. He reminded me to pack warm clothes because they were just getting out of winter there and it would be a bit chilly. Funny, but I pictured Africa as a desert with people in saris. I thought of safaris and people with staffs roaming about with their thin little animals. My ignorance was sometimes surprising to Bret. When I brought up my vision of Africa, he quickly corrected me: Jules, thats farther up, this is the white part of Africa, settled by the Dutch. Apartheid happened here. Anyway, youre going to love it here, Crabby, its beautiful.

Bret always kept himself informed about all the places he went to. That was no surprise. I, on the other hand, felt dumb. I was never really interested in the political histories of countries. That stuff bored me. But I made an effort to find out more this time, if only to get a sense of what the country offered. I eagerly searched online for things to do, mostly typical tourist things. Bret had everything planned out for us, but I still wanted to be in charge of what I wanted to see. I knew I would be spending a lot of downtime on my own while Bret was filming. I made myself a list of places I wanted to visit. At the top of that list was a library that housed a facsimile of Shakespeares first folio. Id seen some amazing things overseas with Bret, but I felt like this would outdo them all.

I fell in love with Romeo and Juliet while taking high school equivalency classes in the early 1990s. Most of the students struggled with Shakespeare, but I took to it right away. I felt like I instantly understood exactly what they were saying, even though Id never studied Shakespeare before. I chalked it up to a past life. Perhaps I had once lived in the Elizabethan era.

I scurried about the rest of the week, getting ready for the trip. I was quite a pudgy little mouse of a wife and was anxious about being around beautiful Dutch women and Brets actress friends. I was also worried about not being able to smoke with Bret around. I had picked up the habit again, and on top of that, I was still popping Prozac. The night before I left, Bret called to remind me to bring some Halcion along for the fourteen-hour flight to Cape Town. I hated taking them when he wasnt with me. I often lost control of myself while on those little pills. Without Bret there to keep an eye on me and block me in, I was liable to get up in a haze and do silly things. It was just more anxiety to add to the heaping pile of shit that was already running through my head.

I was going through a dark time in my life. My self-esteem was at an all-time low and nothing was making me happy anymore. According to my therapist, I was engaging in complete self-sabotage. I had been making myself scarce and hiding from everybody. I felt like it was a terrible time for me to be going on a trip, but in my heart I really wanted to make this trip fun and have a good time with Bret. I was hoping we would get some alone time to figure things out between us. As I flew over the Atlantic and stared out the tiny window, I vowed to make things better for Bret and myself.

When I landed in Cape Town, I was more excited about seeing Shakespeares folio than Bret. I gave Bret a hug and was whisked off to the set of Sinbad , even though I was horribly tired and not that interested in seeing it. Bret scolded me when I told him I hadnt taken the sleeping pills. He went on about how important it was to get adjusted to the time zone. I snapped back that jet lag was never a problem for me. So it began.

I was introduced to the cast of Sinbad , who were all very nice. I especially liked Brets friend Robin. He was loud and jovial, and he smoked, which was great for me. We sat around chatting and marveling at the landscape while Bret did his scenes, and when Bret was done, Robin invited us over for dinner. In a charming accent that sounded slightly English, Robin said that it wouldnt be a gourmet meal, but something to put in the belly til morn.

It was quite dark when we got to Robins. I excused myself for a moment, hoping to get in a quick smoke. Robin warned me not to stray too farthere were terrible things that could gallop off with me. I decided it was worth the risk for a quick drag. Outside, the sounds were unlike anything Id ever heard before. It was so much more than the chirping of crickets or croaking of frogs; it was like a choir of insects in unison, singing a perfectly harmonious song. I found comfort in it and stood there in awe. Suddenly Bret appeared beside meI hadnt heard him coming. He asked me if everything was okay.