MARY HART FRIENDSHIPS Make You Rich

The Entertainment Tonight alum shares her thoughts on living a happy life

- Susan Hornik

Mary Hart, who co-hosted Entertainment Tonight from 1982 to 2011, always knew what she wanted to do when she grew up. “I have two dear friends who remember when we were about seven years old, swinging back and forth, talking about what we wanted to do in the future,” Mary, 74, tells Closer. “I don’t remember this, but they both do. They said, ‘We remember that you said you wanted to be in show business!’ So, I must have known it very early on!”

Mary, who retired from ET after 29 years, still remains in the public eye. She serves on the Board of Trustees for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and is an ambassador for Childhelp USA. She has also hosted the annual Palm Springs Film Festival opening gala a whopping 21 times.

You started off doing beauty pageants.

Yes, I was Miss South Dakota and in the Miss America Pageant. Phyllis George, who became a dear friend, was the woman who won the Miss America Pageant the year I was in it.

A lot of women use beauty pageants as a springboard to an acting career. What made you decide on entertainment journalism?

I loved being interviewed, but I realized I wanted to be on the other side of the microphone because I wanted to be able to tell stories. I find everybody has a different story.

What do you remember about your job interview for ET?

I had taught high school English for three years in South Dakota, where I grew up, and I still sounded like that school teacher and I looked like it! I just was very prim and very proper in the way I spoke. It was almost like I was talking to 12th grade Shakespeare students.