Actress-turned-nun visits Hollywood after 43 years in monastery
Bob Thomas
Associated Press
San Jose Mercury News
_________________
Beverly Hills, California (US):
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.
Now the Rev. Mother Dolores Hart and prioress of the cloistered community at Abbey of Regina Laudis in Connecticut, she has been renewing friendships from her studio years.Why? To spread awareness about a largely mysterious neurological disorder that afflicts countless Americans, including herself, called peripheral idiopathic neuropathy.
Last month, Hart testified at a congressional hearing in Washington, citing the need for research into a cause and cure for the painful and crippling disease.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 seems in radiant health at 67, her cheeks smooth and rosy, her blue eyes clear. She wore traditional nun's attire, with a couple of additions: a green hand-knit sweater under the robe and a jaunty black beret.
Apr 12, 2006
Bob Thomas
Associated Press
San Jose Mercury News
_________________
Beverly Hills, California (US):
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.
Now the Rev. Mother Dolores Hart and prioress of the cloistered community at Abbey of Regina Laudis in Connecticut, she has been renewing friendships from her studio years.Why? To spread awareness about a largely mysterious neurological disorder that afflicts countless Americans, including herself, called peripheral idiopathic neuropathy.
Last month, Hart testified at a congressional hearing in Washington, citing the need for research into a cause and cure for the painful and crippling disease.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 seems in radiant health at 67, her cheeks smooth and rosy, her blue eyes clear. She wore traditional nun's attire, with a couple of additions: a green hand-knit sweater under the robe and a jaunty black beret.
Apr 12, 2006
