He was born in Calgary, Alberta, the youngest of 12 children, all of whom were involved with wrestling in some way; one of his brothers is the well-known wrestler Bret Hart. His father was the wrestling promoter Stu Hart.
Hart died in Kansas City, Missouri when he fell 78 feet while being lowered into a World Wrestling Federation ring. He left a widow, Martha, and two children, Oje and Athena.