The Authors

Mother Dolores Hart, O.S.B

Mother Dolores Hart, O.S.B., is prioress of the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut.

Dolores Hart was a bright and beautiful college student when she made her film debut with Elvis Presley in Paramount’s 1957 Loving You. She acted in nine more movies with other big stars such as Montgomery Clift, Anthony Quinn, Warren Beatty, and Myrna Loy. She also gave a Tony-nominated performance in the Broadway play The Pleasure of His Company and appeared in television shows, including The Virginian and Playhouse 90. An important chapter in her life occurred while playing Saint Clare in the movie Francis of Assisi, which was filmed on location in Italy.

Born Dolores Hicks to a complicated and colorful Chicago family, Mother Dolores has travelled a charmed yet challenging road in her journey toward love, serenity, and yes, God.

In 1963, she stunned Hollywood, when after ten highly successful feature films, and at the peak of her career, she entered the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut, not in order to leave the glamorous world of acting she had dreamed of since childhood, but in order to answer a mysterious call she heard with the “ear of the heart.” While contracted for another film and engaged to be married, she abandoned everything to enter a contemplative monastery.

She remains a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

Richard DeNeut

Richard DeNeut was the West Coast bureau chief for the photo agency and syndicate Globe Photos, which covered Hollywood for national and international publications. He has written for television and co-authored actress Patricia Neal’s autobiography, As I Am. He compiled and edited Inside Hollywood: 60 Years of Globe Photos.