In 1957, 19-year-old Dolores Hart won the female lead in “Loving You,” the newest movie featuring Elvis Presley, where she became the first actress to kiss Elvis on screen. Since childhood, Hart had wanted to be a film star, and now her dream was coming true. “I often wonder why the Lord gave me such an opportunity to audition for Elvis,” she said 55 years later. “There were so many of us in line that day, and I just can’t believe I got the part.”
“Loving You” launched her into a whirlwind of movie-making: nine more films in five years, including “Where the Boys Are,” “Francis of Assisi,” “Come Fly with Me,” and another Elvis movie, “King Creole.” In these pictures she appeared with some of that era’s celebrated actors, men like Montgomery Clift, Warren Beatty, Karl Malden, Anthony Quinn, and George Hamilton. Dolores Hart was walking on a red carpet into the future.
