The art of Hart

Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers are Jonathan and Jennifer Hart – a couple so deeply in love that it would be quite sickening if they weren't constantly on the verge of being poisoned, shot or blown up by bad guys. Jonathan is the suave CEO of Hart Industries while Jennifer is a hotshot journalist but, in between living the high life, they also enjoy nothing more than solving mysteries and bringing villains to justice.

Aided only by their cigar-chomping, grizzled old sidekick Max, the Harts live life like it's one endless honeymoon – albeit a honeymoon filled with intrigue, spies, gangsters and the occasional psychotic stalker.

An unexpected Twist

Hart to Hart began in 1979, but it was actually dreamt up back in the 1960s by Sidney Sheldon – the creator of hit sitcom I Dream of Jeannie and future bestselling writer of thrillers, romances and bonkbusters.

Sheldon's script was about a married crime-fighting duo, but they were called the Twists rather than the Harts, and his title was Double Twist. It was rejected by the TV studio, but one of the executives remembered it a decade later when his bosses requested a show about a "sophisticated couple". So he gave Sheldon a ring, although by that time the writer had long forgotten about his script, and apparently had to rely on his secretary to remember what it was and where he'd filed it away.

Wagnermania

Screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz, who'd worked on such big projects as Diamonds Are Forever and Superman, was brought in to update and overhaul Sheldon's 60s script. On developing the character of Jonathan Hart, Mankiewicz immediately knew who to cast in the role. "There is only one current actor capable of playing the suave, lifted-eyebrow hero," he told his colleagues, "and his name is Robert Wagner. If I can't have him, we'll have to scrap the entire project."

The producers agreed that Wagner, the former movie idol who had carved out a new career on the small screen, was perfect for the part. And Wagner himself was only too happy to take it – as long as one important demand was met...

A Hart-felt decision

Wagner told the producers he would only take part in the show if his old friend Stefanie Powers – with whom he'd worked on programmes before – would be given the part of his wife Jennifer Hart. The studio wasn't very keen on this, as she was mainly known as a supporting star, and her previous series The Girl from UNCLE had proved a costly flop.

On top of this, writer Tom Mankiewicz was actually keen on Robert Wagner's real-life wife Natalie Wood to play Jennifer. Wagner vetoed this suggestion, wanting to keep his married and professional life separate. He continued to fight for Stefanie Powers and eventually, after quite a bit of bickering, the studio relented. The Harts had at last been cast.

Real life romance?

Wagner and Powers had such powerful screen chemistry in Hart to Hart that they were flooded with fan mail from viewers who believed they actually were a couple in real life. This fan pressure only increased when both Wagner and Powers tragically lost their off-screen partners within a few weeks of each other.

Their bereavements brought them closer together as friends, but there was never any question of a romance unfolding. As Stefanie Powers said: "I adore Robert - he got me the part of Jennifer. But we have always been close friends and nothing more."

Wagner echoed the sentiment, saying: "I've probably spent more time with Stefanie than any woman I've ever known – more than my mother, I think. I've held her in my arms when she's been crying and when she's been laughing her head off."


All images © 2007 CPT Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Sony Pictures Television International)