The Ear of the Heart: An Actress' Journey From Hollywood to Holy Vows by Dolores Hart, Richard DeNeut
Authors: Dolores Hart, Richard DeNeut
Tags: Personal Memoirs, Biography & Autobiography, Entertainment & Performing Arts, Biography, Spirituality, Non-Fiction, Religious, Spiritual & Religion
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tremendously proud of you. Now I not only love you as a person but love you as a talented young actress. You’ve made your ‘papa’ proud.” It was signed “Tony”. I hadn’t even known Anthony Quinn was there watching. His words coming at that moment meant more than I could ever tell him .
The next day I bumped into George and Anna on the lot as they emerged from a screening room where they had been watching rushes, the assembled prints of the previous day’s shooting, including my scene with Anna. In 1957 it didn’t occur to me to watch rushes. As George and Anna approached, I looked around for an escape, but there was none. Anna stopped in front of me. “Here it comes”, I thought. She looked me right in the eye and then, laughing, took hold of both my ears and shook me as hard as she could. Then they continued on. George, looking back for a moment, gave me a wink and the okay sign. Dear George. I hardly ever mention his name without prefacing it with “dear”. He was one of the kindest men I ever worked with, and I simply forgot he was the big man. He was just somebody who liked me very much. Later, when he wrote to me at the monastery, he would sign his letters “Old Uncle George” .
By the time the company moved to Carson City for the exterior scenes, I had begun feeling a real part of this family of actors. Anna and the Tonys became comrades, and I was their mascot. Even Anna couldn’t have been warmer to me. On location, invitations for dinner came from all sides, which helped in my constant concern about finances, given that per diem then was six dollars. Being the only young girl in the company meant nobody would let me pick up the check .
Away from the studio, Anthony Quinn was more attentive, his interest hinting at something other than paternal. Frequently he would ask her to dinner alone. But although he enjoyed flirting with her, he couldn’t shrug off his role as protector, so he kept hands off. Dolores enjoyed his company, especially hearing about his occasional forays into the theater, which started her thinking that she should investigate working on the stage.
One night, after dinner in nearby Reno, Tony showed me the town—that meant the casinos. I watched while he gambled, and every time he was ahead he would slip a silver dollar into my hand to play the one-armed bandits. I hit a jackpot, and the machine began spitting silver dollars all over the floor .
I called to Tony to come and see my good fortune, but before he could join me a man came up and asked how old I was. I very proudly announced I was eighteen just as Tony reached my side. He grabbed me by the arm and rushed me out, leaving my winnings on the floor. “But,” I protested, “my money!” “Never mind”, Tony said. “Good God, Dolores, you have to be twenty-one to gamble. We’ll get arrested .”
Sometimes Tony and I would drive to Lake Tahoe and just sit by the lake watching the sunset. Mostly we talked about acting. Acting was a religion to Anthony Quinn. He felt passionately about it and spoke often of wanting to establish a class for actors who needed an outlet when they weren’t working. He believed that talent must never be allowed to become stagnant and the only way to keep it alive is to act .
It was on one of these evenings that Tony confided that he once had the desire to become a priest. He told me he actually had begun to study for the priesthood, but the call to acting had been stronger. “Occasionally,” he said, “I’m sorry I didn’t continue, but judging by what my life has been and has become, the Church might say it is better off for my decision.” He said he hadn’t thought about that for a long time but somehow felt I would understand .
On our last evening, we were aware of a huge rock in the water that, as the sun set, began to hide the colors reflected on the lake’s surface. I asked him if there was anything in the world he would like at that moment. “I would like to move that
The next day I bumped into George and Anna on the lot as they emerged from a screening room where they had been watching rushes, the assembled prints of the previous day’s shooting, including my scene with Anna. In 1957 it didn’t occur to me to watch rushes. As George and Anna approached, I looked around for an escape, but there was none. Anna stopped in front of me. “Here it comes”, I thought. She looked me right in the eye and then, laughing, took hold of both my ears and shook me as hard as she could. Then they continued on. George, looking back for a moment, gave me a wink and the okay sign. Dear George. I hardly ever mention his name without prefacing it with “dear”. He was one of the kindest men I ever worked with, and I simply forgot he was the big man. He was just somebody who liked me very much. Later, when he wrote to me at the monastery, he would sign his letters “Old Uncle George” .
By the time the company moved to Carson City for the exterior scenes, I had begun feeling a real part of this family of actors. Anna and the Tonys became comrades, and I was their mascot. Even Anna couldn’t have been warmer to me. On location, invitations for dinner came from all sides, which helped in my constant concern about finances, given that per diem then was six dollars. Being the only young girl in the company meant nobody would let me pick up the check .
Away from the studio, Anthony Quinn was more attentive, his interest hinting at something other than paternal. Frequently he would ask her to dinner alone. But although he enjoyed flirting with her, he couldn’t shrug off his role as protector, so he kept hands off. Dolores enjoyed his company, especially hearing about his occasional forays into the theater, which started her thinking that she should investigate working on the stage.
One night, after dinner in nearby Reno, Tony showed me the town—that meant the casinos. I watched while he gambled, and every time he was ahead he would slip a silver dollar into my hand to play the one-armed bandits. I hit a jackpot, and the machine began spitting silver dollars all over the floor .
I called to Tony to come and see my good fortune, but before he could join me a man came up and asked how old I was. I very proudly announced I was eighteen just as Tony reached my side. He grabbed me by the arm and rushed me out, leaving my winnings on the floor. “But,” I protested, “my money!” “Never mind”, Tony said. “Good God, Dolores, you have to be twenty-one to gamble. We’ll get arrested .”
Sometimes Tony and I would drive to Lake Tahoe and just sit by the lake watching the sunset. Mostly we talked about acting. Acting was a religion to Anthony Quinn. He felt passionately about it and spoke often of wanting to establish a class for actors who needed an outlet when they weren’t working. He believed that talent must never be allowed to become stagnant and the only way to keep it alive is to act .
It was on one of these evenings that Tony confided that he once had the desire to become a priest. He told me he actually had begun to study for the priesthood, but the call to acting had been stronger. “Occasionally,” he said, “I’m sorry I didn’t continue, but judging by what my life has been and has become, the Church might say it is better off for my decision.” He said he hadn’t thought about that for a long time but somehow felt I would understand .
On our last evening, we were aware of a huge rock in the water that, as the sun set, began to hide the colors reflected on the lake’s surface. I asked him if there was anything in the world he would like at that moment. “I would like to move that
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