Born: October 20, 1938, in Chicago IL
Real Name: Dolores Hicks

Dolores Hart starred opposite Elvis in Loving You and King Creole, two of his early films from the '50's. In both films, Dolores played essentially the same role, that of the girl who's sweet and innocent, but (especially in King Creole) somewhat wise to the ways of the world. In their first scene together in that film, Elvis is singing in a drug store to distract the crowd while his pals do some hefty shoplifting. After finishing his song, he saddles up to the soda counter to flirt with Dolores, and collect a compliment or two, but she just flips him a casual, "You're in on it, aren't you", establishing right off that Dolores ain't no dummy! In real life she was pretty perceptive too! About her famous co-star she said, "Elvis is a young man with an enormous capacity of love... but I don't think he has found his happiness. I think he is terribly lonely". In the middle of filming King Creole, in February, Dolores threw a surprise birthday party for Jan Shepard, who played Elvis' sister Mimi in the film. Elvis brought Jan a movie camera as a gift, and some of the amateur footage can be seen in the film, This Is Elvis. Dolores can be seen playing the clarinet, while Elvis is playing the piano. (See video clip below)

Her biggest break came in 1961 with Where the Boys Are, in which four college girls get away from the cold and spend spring break in Fort Lauderdale. Hey! Didn't Elvis use this plot in Girl Happy? That same year, Dolores made Francis of Assisi, in which our lady joins up with a monk to found her own order. A bit of foreshadowing, perhaps. She had reached a point where she was beginning to long for more than Hollywood could provide. She told Look magazine, "Before I was twenty, I learned that being in movies didn't bring me the ultimate joy I expected." In 1963, after finishing Come Fly With Me, Dolores entered a convent, and in 1970, took her final vows to become a nun. Today, she's Mother Dolores at the Convent of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem Connecticut.

Dolores appeared for an interview segment on 20/20, this last Friday night, 3/23/01, and it was VERY detailed! Mother Dolores talked about her life, and the painful decision to join the convent. Also interviewed was Don Robinson, her fiance at the time of her decision. Would you believe that he has never married, and remains a close friend to Mother Dolores to this day? It was an incredible story, and it was great to see such a well done interview with Mother Dolores! Read more about it in 20/20's article, "Stardom to Sisterhood".

• Dolores Hart IMDB
• Sweethart - nice short page, but lots of images! Also see the slideshow above.
• TV Now: Dolores Hart - check out when Dolores is on TV this month!
• Dolores Hart: How a movie actress left Hollywood for a contract with God - A nice article from Pittsburgh's Post-Gazette in 1998.
• Dolores' page on the What A Character! site.
• Edwin Jahiel's review of Lonelyhearts.