20 Facts About Dolores Hart

At the height of her career, Dolores Hart left acting to enter the Abbey of Regina Laudis monastery in Connecticut.

Dolores Hart was the only child of actor Bert Hicks and Harriett Hicks.

Dolores Hart's uncle was tenor and actor Mario Lanza.

Dolores Hart's father followed movie offers and moved his family from Chicago to Hollywood.

Dolores Hart decided to become an actress after visiting her father on movie sets, including the film Forever Amber.

Dolores Hart's grandfather was a movie theater projectionist whose enthusiasm for films influenced her decision to pursue an acting career.

Dolores Hart attended the all girls Catholic Corvallis High School.

Dolores Hart made two more films before appearing with Presley again in 1958's King Creole.

Dolores Hart made her debut on Broadway, winning a 1959 Theatre World Award and a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress for her role in The Pleasure of His Company.

Dolores Hart starred in the film Francis of Assisi in 1961, in which she played Saint Clare of Assisi.

In 1963 Dolores Hart appeared as Kathy Maywood on The Virginian in the episode "The Mountain of the Sun".

Dolores Hart played a Catholic missionary, who against all warnings risks her life to honor both her vows to God and her desire to continue her dead husband's work to help a community of poor and sick embattled Indian tribes.

Dolores Hart adored the Maldens' children and quickly became like a member of the family.

Dolores Hart said she was moving away and that it was "an affair of the heart".

Dolores Hart visited Hollywood again in 2006, after 43 years in the abbey, to raise awareness for idiopathic peripheral neuropathy disorder, a neurological disorder that afflicts her and many Americans.

Dolores Hart was instrumental in developing the Abbey of Regina Laudis's project of expansion of its community connection through the arts.

Dolores Hart's vision was the development and expansion of the abbey's open-air theater and arts program for the Bethlehem community.

Dolores Hart was named prioress of the monastery in 2001, after the election of Mother David Serna as second abbess of Regina Laudis, and held that office until 2015.

Dolores Hart is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Dolores Hart attended the 2012 Academy Awards for the documentary, her first red-carpet Oscar event since 1959.