Dolores Hart: the promising movie star who became a nun
Sometimes, our lives feel like they are heading in the right direction when we are suddenly struck by a thought so strong it can only be divine intervention. Such a moment occurred in the life of Dolores Hart, who had once been a promising young movie star but was drawn to a life of spiritual devotion and became a nun, leaving the bright lights of Hollywood behind.
Hart famously made her film debut in the 1957 musical drama Loving You alongside Elvis Presley and proceeded to make nine more movies across a five-year span, including another with the King of Rock and Roll, 1958’s King Creole. However, despite the fame and fortune that came with life in the spotlight, Hart knew that her true path lay elsewhere, in devotion to the Lord.
When making Francis of Assisi, Hart, who had converted to Roman Catholicism at the age of ten, was afforded the opportunity to meet Pope John XXIII. The actor had been engaged to business Don Robinson, who was also a devout Catholic, and after visiting the Abbey of Regina Laudis monastery in Connecticut, she realised that she would have to call off the relationship and seek out a new life as a nun.
In an interview with Fox News, Hart explained her decision to quit showbusiness and join the sisterhood. “I think it’s important for anyone to understand that it was a dramatic change,” she noted, “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.”
Hart began to ask herself where a life of stardom would take her, and as she interrogated her purpose on Earth, she felt a deep calling from God. “The realisation became clear, and really, it’s a gift,” Hart admitted, “I was so lucky. God called me.” The trip to Regina Laudis confirmed Hart’s suspicions that acting was not her true calling, and she ended her engagement with Robinson and joined the nunnery.
There was a real sense of peace at the monastery, and it enabled Hart to find her “inner certitude”. “I felt like this is where I belonged,” she said, “it became more than just a retreat. It’s the kind of feeling you get when you meet the person you’re going to marry. The more I came to visit, the more it came calling to me. And the more I knew God was present to me in a very special way that I couldn’t deny.”
Hart originally took the religious name Sister Judith, but to please her mother, she took Sister Dolores when taking her final vows in 1970. The acting profession never quite left Hart’s heart, though, and she was pivotal in developing the Regina Laudis abbey’s open-air theatre, where she would later help the nuns put on an annual musical.
Even the honour of acting alongside Elvis Presley was not enough to dissuade Hart from her life in dedication to God, and she noted how a life of service is akin to a life of love. “To find God is to find love. To understand God is to understand love,” Hart explained, “I think we all need to walk down that path of self-discovery and truly understand our purpose. And I truly believe it’s never too late.”
Check out the trailer for Loving You, starring Dolores Hart, below.
