Background

Jo Anne Hart was born on December 29, 1953, in Cleveland, Ohio, United States.

Education

Jo Anne Hart attended the Ohio State University.

Career

Mother Love started her multi-faceted career in stand-up comedy in 1977 on a $50.00 bet from her girlfriends. She went into a biker bar and did a 20-minute routine. The bar then gave her an additional $25.00 and an invitation to be the next weekend's opener for a band. She continued standing up for the next 15 years, sharing the stage with Steve Harvey, Ellen DeGeneres, Kevin James, Rosie O'Donnell, Ray Romano, and many others who came through Cleveland, OH, while she also did Morning & Afternoon Drive Time on WGCL FM Radio. In addition, she made live appearances on local WKYC (NBC Affiliate), WEWS (ABC Affiliate), Fox, and other stations, doing cooking demos, interviews, and Man on The Street segments.

In 1989 she was brought to Los Angeles to host a late-night talk radio program on KFI AM 640 from 10 pm to 1 am every weekday. She quickly became known as the voice of late-night talk radio. After only a month, the Los Angeles Times featured her in a Calendar section piece entitled, Hot Radio, which introduced her to Los Angeles and the entertainment community. She was well-prepared when she was asked to become a Relationship Expert on the first Ricki Lake Show.

She was also a frequent guest on The Home Show, the live national show on ABC with Gary Collins, where she joined the cast as the announcer in its final season. She went on to host the late-night talk show The Mother Love Show on Fox Television from 11 pm - 12:00 am Monday Friday, and the nationally syndicated talk/relationship show Forgive or Forget (20th Television Syndicated).

Her television acting credits include guest-starring roles opposite Will Smith on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Candice Bergen on Murphy Brown, and Roseanne Barr on Roseanne. She has been a guest on Hollywood Squares, with Ellen Degeneres and Whoopi Goldberg, The Wayne Brady Show, The Roseanne (Talk) Show, Larry King on CNN, and many local news/entertainment programs around the country.

She has penned three books: Half the Mother Twice the Love published in 2006 by Atria Books (a division of Simon & Schuster), and two advice-based books, Forgive or Forget: Never Underestimate the Power of Forgiveness (HarperCollins 1999) and Listen Up Girlfriends (St. Martin's Press 1995). She has written Op-Ed pieces for several magazines and has graced the cover of TV Guide, Diabetes Forecast, Urban Belle, and others. She also hosted the 1999 local Emmy Awards in Atlanta, GA.

Mother Love is a spokesperson for the American Dental Association"s "I Decide to Fight" Diabetes Campaign, doing over 200 radio interviews and television appearances.

And has been tapped to be a spokesperson for the American Dental Association"s new "Choose to Live" program. She is a new Research Ambassador with the American Dental Association for 2010 and beyond. She is the 2010 spokesperson for Glucerna Snacks, Shakes, and cereals. Mother Love traveled the country with Novo Nordisk, Incorporated., sponsoring her "Mother Love Presents Diabetes Awareness Business & Truck Tour". On May 10, 2010, Mother Love returned to the airwaves on Los Angeles Talk Radio. Currently, Mother Love can be heard every weekday on LATalkRadio.com from 2-4 pm PT, and her nationally syndicated talk show, Forgive or Forget, airs on cable channels across the country on Bounce TV.

Achievements

• For more than three decades, Mother Love has entertained and delighted her fans. The candid, humorous, and endearing veteran of talk radio and tv shows is also an actress of stage, film, and television. In addition to sitcoms and over a dozen films, she also adds author, advice columnist, motivational speaker, spokesperson, and humorist to her many talents and accomplishments.
  
  Mother Love has performed in several films with noted stars such as Tommy Lee Jones, Peter Boyle, Hulk Hogan, Shaq, Lou Ferrigno, Jack Wagner, Beverly Todd, and others.
  
  Mother Love is a motivational speaker on many family and women"s issues. She is the recipient of many humanitarian awards for her work with diabetes awareness.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Listen Up, Girlfriends!: Lessons on Life from the Queen of Advice

    (A television and radio personality offers sassy, no-nonse...)

    1995
  • Forgive or Forget: Never Underestimate the Power of Forgiveness

    (A popular and inspirational television personality offers...)

    1999
  • Half the Mother, Twice the Love: My Journey to Better Health with Diabetes

    (Half the Mother, Twice the Love tells about the major wei...)

    2006

• movie

  • Fair Game

    (When two co-workers who can't see eye to eye in the offic...)

    2005
  • Mr. Nanny

    (Hulk Hogan stars as a former pro-wrestler who must surviv...)

    1993
  • Volcano

    (Just when you thought Los Angeles was free of national di...)

    1997

Membership

Jo Anne Hart is also a member of Sigma Gamma Rho, one of four sororities in the National Pan-Hellenic Council.

Personality

Mother Love is an active volunteer with the American Diabetes Association for many years. Mother Love is a triple threat: compassionate, humorous, and wise. She connects with the audience, inspires them, and makes them laugh.

Connections

Jo Anne Hart has been married to Kennedy Rogers since October 8, 1972. They have one child.

husband:

Kennedy Rogers

References

• Contemporary Authors New Revision Series: A Bio-Bibliographical Guide to Current Writers in Fiction, General Non-Fiction, Poetry, Journalism, Drama, Motion Pictures, Television, and Other Fields In response to the escalating need for up-to-date information on writers, Contemporary Authors New Revision Series brings researchers the most recent data on the worlds most-popular authors.
  2010