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Dolores Hart, O.S.B., (born October 20, 1938) is an American Roman Catholic Benedictine nun who had been previously a prominent actress. She made ten films in five years, playing opposite Stephen Boyd, Montgomery Clift, George Hamilton and Robert Wagner, having made her movie debut with Elvis Presley in ''Loving You'' (1957). By the early 1960s an established leading lady, she "stunned Hollywood"〔Ephriam Katz, ''The Film Encyclopedia, Third Edition'', HarperCollins, 1998, p.598〕 by announcing that she would be giving up her career to enter the Abbey of Regina Laudis monastery in Connecticut, where she served her monastic community for many years. ==Background== Born Dolores Hicks, she was the only child of actor Bert Hicks and Harriett Hicks, who separated when she was three years old, and ultimately divorced. She stated, "As a child I was precocious. My parents married when they were 16 and 17 and both were beautiful people. Moss Hart offered my mother, Harriett, a contract but by then they had me and my father, Bert Hicks, a bit player, definitely a Clark Gable type, had movie offers so he moved from Chicago to Hollywood. I was a Hollywood brat. He lived in Beverly Hills and I used to visit the lots with him. He had a bit part in ''Forever Amber''. I always wanted to be part of that life." Hicks was also related by marriage, through an aunt, to singer Mario Lanza. She lived in Chicago with her grandparents, who sent her to a parochial school, St. Gregory Catholic School, not for its religious education but it was closest to home and she stated, "My grandparents didn't want me to get run over by streetcars." It was actually her grandfather, a movie theater projectionist to whom she turned for comfort in light of her parents' marital problems, whose enthusiasm for films influenced her decision to pursue an acting career. She would watch the films, but without sound so as not to disturb his naps in the booth, and her job was to wake him at the end of each reel.〔 Hicks converted to Catholicism when she was 10. By age 11, she was living again in Beverly Hills with her mother, a restaurant greeter, who married owner Al Gordon. After high school, she studied at Marymount College. Using the stage name of 'Dolores Hart' in 1956 she was signed to play a supporting role as the love interest to Elvis Presley in the 1957 release ''Loving You''. After this appearance, Hart found herself in frequent demand, and she made two more films before playing with Presley again in 1958's ''King Creole''. She has denied ever having had an 'intimate' relationship with Presley off-screen. In interviews during her movie career she was often asked, "What is it like kissing Elvis?" She chuckled a bit at the memory, "I think the limit for a screen kiss back then was something like 15 seconds. That one has lasted 40 years." Hart then made her debut on Broadway, winning a 1959 Theatre World Award as well as a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress for her role in ''The Pleasure of His Company''. In 1960 Hart starred in ''Where the Boys Are'', a teenage comedy about college students on spring break, which developed a near cult-like following. In the film Hart plays a co-ed who struggles to define herself when confronted with her newly discovered sexuality and popularity with the opposite sex. Hart starred in the film, ''Francis of Assisi'' in 1961, in which she played Saint Clare of Assisi. Hart also made a sketch of a St. Francis statue, arms outstretched, while working on the movie .〔 She went on to star in four more films, including the lead role in ''The Inspector'' (''Lisa'') which was based on a novel by Jan de Hartog, which was nominated for a Golden Globe for "Best Picture – Drama". Hart's last role was with Hugh O'Brian in 1963's ''Come Fly with Me''. At this point she had made up her mind to leave the film industry. The 24-year-old actress became a Roman Catholic nun at the Benedictine Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut. On a 1963 New York promotional stop for ''Come Fly with Me'', she took a one-way car ride to the abbey in 1963 (not in a limousine as reported). Besides her film career, Hart also left behind a fiancé, Los Angeles architect, Don Robinson (April 16, 1933 – November 29, 2011). Despite breaking off her engagement, they remained close friends and he continued to visit her at the abbey in Connecticut every year throughout his life.〔.〕 She admitted she loved him—"Of course, Don, I love you." But Robinson said, "Every love doesn't have to wind up at the altar." He never married, but visited her every year at Christmas and Easter until his death.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Donald Robinson obituary )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Mother Delores Hart )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Dolores Hart Biography )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dolores Hart」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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