Actress-turned-nun visits Hollywood after 43 years in monastery
Actress-turned-nun visits Hollywood after 43 years in monastery
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. _ Dolores Hart, who at age 24 startled the film world in 1962 by leaving a thriving screen career _ including two roles opposite Elvis Presley _ to become a nun, has returned to Hollywood for her first visit after 43 years in a monastery....
Why? To spread awareness about a largely mysterious neurological disorder that afflicts countless Americans, including herself, called peripheral idiopathic neuropathy. Over a recent lunch at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Mother Dolores spoke of her ordeal with the disease. She also told of her long ambition to be an actress and what ended that phase of her life....
She made her screen debut as Elvis' love interest in 1957's "Loving You," his first starring role.
"I had no idea who Elvis Presley was," she admitted.
"I really loved the acting life," she said. But when she was appearing in the Western "The Plunderers" with Jeff Chandler in 1959, she looked in the mirror and heard a voice saying: "You're really enjoying this, but you're not going to do this much longer." She was puzzled but continued working.
Back in Hollywood, she became engaged to Los Angeles businessman Don Robinson. One night, she related, he asked her, "Do you love me?" She answered, "Yes, I love you." He asked her again. Same answer. "It doesn't sound right," he said. The engagement was canceled, and in December 1962, she flew to Connecticut, never to return _ until now.
Why? To spread awareness about a largely mysterious neurological disorder that afflicts countless Americans, including herself, called peripheral idiopathic neuropathy. Over a recent lunch at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Mother Dolores spoke of her ordeal with the disease. She also told of her long ambition to be an actress and what ended that phase of her life....
She made her screen debut as Elvis' love interest in 1957's "Loving You," his first starring role.
"I had no idea who Elvis Presley was," she admitted.
"I really loved the acting life," she said. But when she was appearing in the Western "The Plunderers" with Jeff Chandler in 1959, she looked in the mirror and heard a voice saying: "You're really enjoying this, but you're not going to do this much longer." She was puzzled but continued working.
Back in Hollywood, she became engaged to Los Angeles businessman Don Robinson. One night, she related, he asked her, "Do you love me?" She answered, "Yes, I love you." He asked her again. Same answer. "It doesn't sound right," he said. The engagement was canceled, and in December 1962, she flew to Connecticut, never to return _ until now.