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Mother Dolores Hart – a former actress who became a Benedictine nun, and was recently profiled in the Academy Award-nominated HBO documentary “God is the Bigger Elvis” – will receive the 2012 Christopher Life Achievement Award during its 63rd annual Christopher Awards ceremony on Thursday, May 24th. As part of the annual Christopher Awards which recognize books, films and TV/Cable programs that “affirm the highest values of the human spirit,” the organization also presents special Awards to worthy individuals and achievements, one of which is the Life Achievement Award. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Dolores Hart enjoyed a successful acting career that led her to co-star in movies with Robert Wagner, Anthony Quinn, and Elvis Presley. She became the first actress to kiss Elvis in a movie, and portrayed St. Clare in the film “Francis of Assisi.” Though she enjoyed her time and work in Hollywood, Hart felt an even stronger spiritual call from God that led her to give up the ac...

Dolores Hart & Elvis Presley In the little town of Bethlehem, a cloistered nun whose luminous blue eyes entranced Elvis Presley in his first on-screen, 1957 movie kiss is praying for a Christmas miracle. Dolores Hart, 73, who walked away from Hollywood stardom in 1963 to become a nun in rural Bethlehem, Conn., now finds herself back in the spotlight. But this time, it’s all about serving the King of Kings, not smooching the King of Rock and Roll. The former brass factory that houses Mother Dolores and about 40 other nuns who are cloistered at the Abbey of Regina Laudis needs millions of dollars in renovations to meet fire and safety codes, add an elevator and make handicap-accessibility upgrades. Now the historically self-supporting nuns have launched a fund-raiser for the $4 million renovation project. “This work may not be in my lifetime that it’s finished, but we’re sure trying,” Mother Dolores said of the upgrades. They hope to break ground in January.  They...