Elvis and Dolores Hart

Elvis Presley and Dolores Hart in "King Creole"

This may feel out of place for some of the visitors of this blog, but I told you that occasionally there will be some surprises. Well, it’s a true and heart-warming story about Elvis Presley and one of his female co-stars, Dolores Hart. She appeared in 16 films in all, two of them with Elvis, precisely “King Creole” and “Loving You,” in the late 1950s. She also appeared in the successful “Where the boys are,” as well as another good movie “Francis of Assisi” in the role of St Clare. Most probably this role changed her life forever, because in 1963, Dolores was about to sign a seven-figure contract and was engaged to a Los Angeles businessman when she decided to join the Benedictine Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut, where she is now prioress. 

Mother Dolores Hart, O.S.B.

Mother Dolores Hart, O.S.B., now 73 years old, last week attended her first Academy Awards show since 1959 to show support for “God is the Bigger Elvis,” an Oscar-nominated documentary about her and her abbey. The 37-minute documentary talks about Mother Dolores’ story and about life at the abbey. It was an Oscar nominee for best documentary short category and set to premiere April 5 on HBO. “I adored Hollywood. I didn’t leave because it was a place of sin. I left Hollywood at the urging of a mysterious thing called vocation.” The nun said she allowed cameras to access the abbey to help those who are soul-searching. “We wanted to invite the world into another order of life that might give some hope,” she said. The documentary interviews Mother Dolores and other nuns like Sister John Mary, 44, an Oxford-educated former advertising executive who came to the abbey after a period of addiction. It also covers the last meeting of Mother Dolores and her ex-fiancé Don Robinson, who never married. He continued to visit and help the abbey until his death in December 2011.

Mother Dolores was a presenter at the 1959 Academy Awards. She remains a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In January, she made a rare speaking appearance at the Central California Marian Eucharistic Conference. Dolores is also the niece of the famous tenor Mario Lanza.