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in which .she played St. Clare, a nun.
We talked a great deal about the so
phistication of young women in the 1960s,
particularly in show business. Dolores' ap
proach was strict and inflexible. "When I
get married, I want to be sure that my
love is great enough for me to be willing
to give up my career to devote myself
entirely to my husband and family."
A few weeks later, she became engaged
to 29-year-old Don Robinson. He's exactly
the kind of man I expected her to marry, I
thought to myself when Dolores introduced
us. He was good-looking, conservative,
firmly anchored to his religious environ
ment and far removed from the Holly
wood type.
Dolores never took any steps hastily.
When she became engaged, she insisted
that they would not get married right
away. "I promised Don we would be en
gaged for six months, just to be sure we
were doing the right thing," she said later.
When Dolores broke the engagement
after a few weeks and then announced that
she would become a nun, a lot of people
pointed their finger at an unhappy ro
mance. This wasn't the case. Before she
entered the convent, she told Hollywood's
queen of gossip columnists, Louella Par
sons, "I love Don deeply, but that isn't
enough. You have to be in love with some
one, and he has to come first. When I really
faced up to myself and it took some pret
ty thorough self-examination I felt that
I wasn't ready to put marriage ahead of
my career and to give up my career if
necessary."
EVEN THOSE CLOSEST to Dolores still
seem puzzled by her action and are
unwilling to make a prediction. Her mother
told me, "What can I possibly know?"
There was a tone of bitterness when she
continued, "I can't feel a thing for her. I
don't really know why you want me to talk
about Dolores. It's Dolores' cup of tea.
Why not leave her alone?"
However, she did explain that Dolores
became a Catholic after "we sent her to
parochial school because I think the paro
chial educational system is better than
public school. A lot of people might not
appreciate what I'm saying, but I couldn't
care less."
There may be some indications in Dol
ores' early life that forecast her decision
of a few months ago. She was born Oct. 20,
1938, in Chicago. Her real name is Hicks.
She took the name Hart from a roommate
in school whom she admired.
When Dolores was 4 . her mother sepa
rated from Bert Hicks and moved to Los
Angeles. For the next eight years, Dol
ores was constantly shuttled back and
Almost prophetically, Dolores portrayed
a nun in the film, "Francis of Assist."
forth among her mother, father, and
grandparents, who remained in Chicago.
"I must have traveled 50,000 miles by the
time I was 12," she once recalled. "I never
really had any roots in a specific place. I
felt like a beanbag being punched back
and forth. After a while I felt it was better
not to be involved. So I spent a lifetime
erecting defenses for myself until it be
came second nature."
As a child, Dolores never enjoyed the
luxury of being really dependent on any
one. "Perhaps this is one reason why I
had success in show business," she once
explained. "The years have equipped me
to fend for myself, to be convincing in al
most any situation because I couldn't al
low myself to be a problem to anybody."
I couldn't help feeling there was a wall
between mother and daughter, although
Mrs. Gordon assured me, "Dolores and I
always had a wonderful relationship."
When her mother moved to Los Angeles,
she married Albert Gordon, a successful
Jewish restaurateur with whom Dolores
got along well. In fact, she seemed closer
to him than to her real father, but she was
closest of all to her grandmother.
Dolores had her heart set on acting long
before she came to Hollywood. Her grand
father was a theater projectionist. She
spent a great deal of time with him in the
booth. "I had to wake him every 20 min
utes to change the reels. He never put on
the sound in the booth, so I saw movies
only as silents. But I caught the bug any
way. I wanted to be in films since then."
Dolores never quite fit into her environ
ment, and not just outwardly. She wore
practically no make-up, her hairdo often
resembled something out of "Little Wom
en," her clothes were tailored and well
fitted but hardly chic and sophisticated.
Dolores never had any illusions about
herself. "I'm not sexy or mysterious," she
once said. "I'm usually on time, and I don't
fall in love with my leading man. In short,
I don't live in a make-believe world with
make-believe people. I prefer to live in a
real world with real people."
Dolores was always concerned how her
career might affect her life. "It takes a
person of tremendous character to with
stand the pressures and adulation to which
you're exposed. Too often and too easily
it becomes self-adulation. I don't want to
have despicable characteristics that so
many actresses acquire."
If that wasn't her sole reason for want
ing to become a nun, it certainly must have
had some influence. As for her ability to
live through the difficult time ahead of her,
I can only go by my own impression that
Dolores is a girl who never wavers from
her beliefs. If anyone can learn to adjust
to the discipline and rigors expected of a
postulant and a nun, it is Dolores Hart.
Family Weekly, October 20, 1963
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