Phyllis Brown
Dolores Hart appeared to have it all—a thriving film career, devoted fans, and a promising future.
Her allure was a perfect blend of Ann-Margret’s charm and Lauren Bacall’s sophistication. A single, unforgettable kiss with Elvis Presley propelled her from obscurity to stardom, and she became one of Hollywood’s brightest young talents.
Yet, Hart made a decision that would shock Hollywood and her fans alike. She renounced her glittering career and the life that had brought her close to the “King of Rock and Roll” to embrace nunhood.
Keep scrolling down to explore the remarkable journey of Mother Dolores Hart.
Family and a love for film shaped her early years
Dolores Hart wasn’t born Catholic despite being named after her Aunt Dolores Marie, a nun. Born as Dolores Hicks on October 20, 1938, she came into the world to teenage parents Bert and Harriet, who were both aspiring actors.
However, when Hart was just three years old, her father left for Hollywood to chase his dreams, leaving her to be raised by her grandparents in Chicago.
Growing up, Dolores was surrounded by family, including a great-grandmother who often offered advice as she braided young Dolores’s hair. One piece of wisdom that stuck with her was, “Don’t ever cut your hair, dear, until it’s really love.”
Her grandparents sent her to St. Gregory, a nearby parochial school, to keep her safe from the dangers of the busy streets. As Dolores later explained, “My grandparents didn’t want me to get run over by streetcars.”
Religion wasn’t a major part of Hart’s early life, but she converted to Catholicism at the age of 10. Years later, she would admit that her early conversion wasn’t driven by spiritual awakening but by the simple fact that Catholic children received treats after communion.
She humorously recalled, “That’s how they got me, chocolate milk and doughnuts.”
Before her love for the faith blossomed, Dolores’s heart had already been captivated by another passion—film.
Her grandfather, who worked as a projectionist, often took her to the movie theater, where she would sit in the projector booth, mesmerized by the figures on the screen. It was here that the acting bug bit her, much like it had her parents before her.
Years later, after starring in a school play in Los Angeles, Hart revealed to an admirer that her acting techniques were largely self-taught, drawn from the countless hours she spent watching movies in that projector booth.
She swapped stardom for sisterhood
After moving to Los Angeles to live with her mother, Dolores Hart began auditioning for roles while still in high school. One of her most notable auditions was for the role of Saint Joan, the same part that had launched Jean Seberg to stardom.
Although Hart didn’t land that role, she soon found her way into Marymount College and quickly broke into the movie industry.
Her career took off with astonishing speed. Hart appeared alongside Montgomery Clift in “Lonelyhearts” and with Anthony Quinn in “Wild Is the Wind,” effortlessly embodying the innocent ingénue.
However, her most iconic performance was as the leading lady opposite Elvis Presley in “Loving You.” Reflecting on that memorable on-screen kiss with Presley, Hart said, “I think the limit for a screen kiss back then was something like 15 seconds. That one has lasted 40 years.”
She didn’t date the heartthrob Elvis Presley. Hart engaged with her longtime boyfriend, Don Robinson, a businessman. The engagement was marked by invitations sent out and a wedding gown designed by the legendary Oscar-winning costumer Edith Head.
As her star continued to rise, Hart was dubbed “the new Grace Kelly.” Yet, just as quickly as she ascended to Hollywood’s heights, Hart made a decision that shocked everyone.
In 1963, at the age of 24, she called off her engagement and announced that she was leaving Hollywood to become a nun.
The news was met with disbelief. “Even my best friend, who was a priest, Father Doody, said, ‘You’re crazy. This is absolutely insane to do this,’” Hart told the Washington Post.
Her aunt, Sister Dolores Marie, who had inspired Hart’s name, was furious, as she had cherished having a famous niece. But Hart was resolute in her decision, trading her Hollywood dreams for a life of spiritual devotion.
Why she left Hollywood: ‘God Called Me’
Dolores Hart played a nun in Francis Of Assisi in 1961. Just a few years later, she became one in real life
What made a beautiful young actress like Dolores Hart give up her earthly paradise? The journey toward her decision began with a role she took in the film “Lisa,” where she played a Jewish World War II refugee experiencing a spiritual awakening in British Palestine.
“That film was the one that made me really think about the possibility of being a nun. I’ve never really spoken about it until now,” Hart shared in a 2008 interview.
Her growing connection to a convent also played a significant part in her transformation. Hart had been a frequent visitor to the Regina Laudis Abbey in Connecticut, initially seeking tranquility.
But each visit deepened her sense of belonging. “I began to notice each time I went it was becoming harder and harder to leave. I had this feeling. I was home,” she said.
As her engagement to Don Robinson progressed, Hart’s uncertainty grew. Seeking clarity, she walked through a snowstorm to an altar on the abbey grounds.
It was here that she knew she had to speak with the Abbess, who asked her a simple yet profound question: “What is it that you want?” Though Hart didn’t receive a divine voice in reply, the encounter set her on a path to discover that her true calling was not marriage but devotion to God.
Years passed before she was sure, but eventually, Hart chose the life of a nun over marriage. Informing her fiancé, she later recalled his heartbreak: “I was crushed. Are you kidding? I’m a human being. I loved her deeply and still do, and I always will.”
Despite his pain, Robinson, a devout Catholic, supported her decision. In 1966, Hart took her vows, shearing off her golden hair.
Looking back, she explained to Fox News why she left Hollywood:
“I think it’s important for anyone to understand that it was a dramatic change. It wasn’t something I planned on. I thought I would go through my time in Hollywood. However, this vocation showed me my life’s purpose.
Then I started to ask myself, ‘What am I doing in Hollywood? Where is this going to take me?’ The realization became clear and really, it’s a gift. I was so lucky. God called me.”
She blended Hollywood past and Faith in a life of devotion
As Sister Dolores, she found a way to merge her past with her new life by founding an open-air theater at the abbey.
“It wasn’t until we started a theater on the Abbey land that I really could see how I could help young people find their vocation in Christ through the medium of the theater,” she said.
Hart’s story didn’t end there; she authored several books and became the subject of the 2012 HBO documentary “God Is The Bigger Elvis,” which was nominated for an Oscar.
Even after all these years, she remains connected to her Hollywood past, counseling friends from her former life. In a 2013 interview, she recalled a light-hearted theological discussion with a retired actress about the afterlife.
“Once we were talking about heaven and Valerie said, ‘I’m not Catholic, so what does it mean, when you go to heaven, that you’re going to get your body back?’ And I said, ‘That’s what the Lord says.’
Valerie then joked, ‘When I go I’m going to ask him for my boobs when I was 18, my waist when I was 33, and my ass when I was 36.’ I told her, ‘Valerie, if that’s what you want, ask for it. Faith teaches you to ask for whatever you need.’”
From her days as a young convert to a Hollywood starlet and now a religious figure, Dolores Hart’s life has unfolded like a modern-day hagiography.
