In the leftwing secular world of Hollywood, it’s rare to find anyone that is open about believing in God. That’s what makes the story of 1950’s bombshell turned Mother Superior, Dolores Hart, so incredible and unique. So unique, in fact, that her story was also the subject of a 2012 Oscar-nominated HBO documentary titled God Is the Bigger Elvis.
Dolores Hart’s Legacy As ‘The Next Grace Kelly’ And Elvis’ First Onscreen Kiss
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Dolores Hart was a young actress who was taking Hollywood by storm.
Many referred to her as the next Grace Kelly, and she even gave Elvis Presley his first onscreen kiss in their 1957 movie Loving You.
While kissing The King must’ve been a coveted role, Hart was drawn to something even more glorious than Elvis.
It seemed that Hart was setting herself up for a long and lucrative movie career.
But then in 1962, she sent shockwaves through the entertainment world by abruptly ditching Hollywood to become a nun.
Dolores Hart Leaves Hollywood To Devote Herself To God
Decades later, Hart is the Mother Superior at the Abbey of Regina Laudis.
Now, the 82 year-old is opening up about why exactly she left Hollywood to devote her life to God.
“I think it’s important for anyone to understand that it was a dramatic change,” she told Fox News of leaving Hollywood.
“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.”
Related: Jay Leno Surprises Blake Shelton With Once In Lifetime Shot To Drive Elvis’ Truck
At the time she decided to leave the acting world, Hart was engaged to Don Robinson.
Dolores Hart Breaks Engagement To Enter An Abbey
“Don and I were engaged,” she said. “I had a concern that somehow I wasn’t sure [about the engagement]… He was a beautiful guy and a real gentleman too. He was also an architect and built houses. I remembered as soon as he asked me to marry him, he found the place that he wanted us to live. I said, ‘Don, we’re going too fast.'”
She continued:
“The time came when I knew this was not it. I felt it in my heart that this was not my path. I remember I was on a lunch date with Don. That’s when I said, “Don, I just have to tell you. I cannot say yes to this.” He stood up from the table and yelled “No!” And of course, everyone at the restaurant looked at us. I looked at him and said, “Don, I’m telling you the truth. I really love you, but not in the way that you want.’
Then I told him what I really wanted to do with my life. God was calling me and I felt it in my heart that I needed to answer. He then looked at me and said, ‘I’ve known it. I know this is what you want. I’m going to help you. I promise you that I will.'”
Despite this, Hart and Robinson remained friends until the end of his life.
“The first year I entered the Abbey, Don went to Hawaii. I thought, ‘Well, that’s goodbye. I will never hear from him again.’ I was wrong,” she said. “Don came to visit me. And up until the day he died [in 2011] he came to the Abbey at least once a year to help in any way he could, to work in areas that would be acceptable. And he never married. I remember he once told me, ‘Every love doesn’t have to wind up at the altar.’ I believe Don is now with the Lord.”
Hollywood Today
Though Hart has not worked in Hollywood for nearly 50 years, she is still a movie buff who follows the industry to this day.
“I think Hollywood belonged to our time as a way for young people to find an identity, to feel a sense of importance, a sense of being, a sense of belonging,” she said. “I think every generation has to go through their own experience in order to find themselves, to find God. I think Hollywood today belongs to the generations that are asking those very same questions, that yearning of finding their place in the world.”
“I’m so delighted to see how many people of color have found a very prestigious place in Hollywood,” Hart added. “This never happened in the ‘40s or ‘50s… Now there’s an opportunity for people of color to be properly represented. I think there’s an opportunity to do good in Hollywood.”
God bless you, Mother Dolores Hart!
Find out more about her incredible story in the documentary God Is The Bigger Elvis.
Read next: Dolly Parton Expresses Her Regret Telling Elvis ‘No’
More About:Celebrity Entertainment TellMeNow