To quote Wikipedia:

“A nun is a member of a religious community of women, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery. Communities of nuns exist in numerous religious traditions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Jainism, and Taoism.

Within Christianity, women religious, known as nuns or religious sisters, are found in Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran traditions among others. Though the terms are often used interchangeably, nuns historically take solemn vows and live a life of prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent, while sisters take simple vows and live an active vocation of prayer and charitable works in areas such as education and healthcare.”

Nuns and sisters, usually Roman Catholic nuns, have been prominent screen regulars at least as far back as Lillian Gish in 1923’s silent classic, The White Sister, and Helen Hayes in the 1933 talkie remake. It wasn’t until 1943’s The Song of Bernadette, though, that actresses playing nuns were nominated for Oscars. That film earned postulant Jennifer Jones an Oscar for her portrayal of the nineteenth century saint, and Gladys Cooper a nomination as the doubting nun who is her adversary for much of the film.

Ingrid Bergman followed her New York Film Critics award for The Bells of St. Mary’s with her third successive nomination for playing Sister Benedict, a charismatic school principal, opposite Bing Crosby’s easygoing priest in Leo McCarey’s superior sequel to his 1944 Oscar-winner, Going My Way, in which there were no nuns.

Deborah Kerr won a much-deserved New York Film Critics award for her Sister Clodagh, the leader of a group of Anglican nuns on assignment in the Himalayas, in 1947’s Black Narcissus, but failed to receive an Oscar nomination for her portrayal. Flora Robson and Kathleen Byron, the most prominent members of her group, also failed to receive nominations.

Loretta Young and Celeste Holm were nominated for their portrayals of French nuns in the New England town of Bethlehem in 1949’s Come to the Stable, but neither Ethel Barrymore in the 1950 eligible The Red Danube, nor Claudette Colbert, Gladys Cooper, and Connie Gilchrist in 1951’s Thunder on the Hill, were considered for their memorable performances as nuns.

Gabrielle Dorziat as the Mother Superior of a French orphanage stole scenes form Bing Crosby and child actor Christian Fourcade in 1953’s Little Boy Lost, but not enough to secure an Oscar nomination.

Deborah Kerr finally won an Oscar nomination for playing a nun in 1957’s Heaven Knows Mr. Allison for which she won had her second New York Film Critics award.

Audrey Hepburn received an Oscar nomination for her Sister Luke, the nun who leaves the convent, in 1959’s The Nun’s Story, having become yet another New York Film Critics award winner for playing a nun. Dame Edith Evans, who won both National Board of Review and Golden Globes awards for her portrayal of Hepburn’s Mother Abbess, failed to receive an Oscar nomination for her portrayal.

Julie Andrews as a postulant and Peggy Wood, an operetta star for whom Noel Coward wrote Bittersweet, as her Mother Abbess, were nominated for their performances in the most popular film musical of all time, 1965’s The Sound of Music.

In more recent times, nuns have become scarce, as have their on-screen portrayals.

Anne Bancroft as a widow who becomes a nun late in life and Meg Tilly as a postulant were nominated for Oscars for 1985’s Agnes of God.

Whoopi Goldberg played a singer on the run masquerading as a nun with Maggie Smith as her Mother Superior in 1992’s Sister Act and its 1993 sequel were ignored by Oscar.

Susan Sarandon finally became the first actress to win an Oscar for playing a nun since Jennifer Jones and the first for playing one who has taken her final vows in 1995’s Dead Man Walking. She was also the first one nominated for playing a nun in modern dress.

Subsequent on-screen portrayals of nuns tend to present them in a less than favorable light. Examples include Geraldine McEwan in 2003’s The Magdalene Sisters, Barbara Jefford in 2013’s Philomena, and Melissa Leo in 2017’s Novitiate.

Ironically, both Barbara Jefford and Diana Rigg, whose last roles were as nuns died within this past week. Rigg can be seen in the upcoming TV miniseries remake of Black Narcissus

ESSENTIAL FILMS

THE BELLS OF ST. MARY’S (1945), directed by Leo McCarey

Ingrid Bergman’s luminous portrayal of a young sister in charge of a parochial school earned her a New York Film Critics award for Best Actress in conjunction with Alfred Hitchcock’s Spellbound the same year. It also earner her a third consecutive Oscar nomination, but having won the year before for Gaslight she wasn’t expected to repeat and didn’t, losing to Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce. She would eventually earn additional Oscars for Anastasia and Murder on the Orient Express, making her the first three-time winner since Katharine Hepburn.

BLACK NARCISSUS (1947), directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger

Deborah Kerr won the first of her three New York Film Critics awards for her superb portrayal of the conflicted nun in this unforgettable film of Rumer Godden’s novel, which won Oscars for its sumptuous art direction-set decoration and cinematography. Kerr herself would be nominated for Oscars a then record six times without winning a competitive Oscar, earning one for her second portrayal of a nun ten years later in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison. She did eventually win a career achievement award at the 1993 Oscars presented to her by Glenn Close who has now become the most nominated non-winning actress in Oscar history.

THE NUN’S STORY (1959), directed by Fred Zinnemann

Audrey Hepburn won her second New York Film Critics award as well as her third Oscar nomination for her superlative performance as a Belgian nun, the daughter of a prominent doctor, who excelled in her work but eventually found the religious life was not for her. This was easily the best dramatic performance of a career that sparkled with bright comedic portrayals in such films as Roman Holiday (her early career Oscar win), Sabrina, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Charade and My Fair Lady. She received a posthumously awarded Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 1992 Oscars.

AGNES OF GOD (1985), directed by Norman Jewison

Anne Bancroft received her fifth Oscar nomination for her portrayal of a middle-aged nun who helps a psychiatrist (Jane Fonda) get to the bottom of an incident in which a naïve young postulant (Meg Tilly) who can’t explain the mysterious birth and death of her child. Bancroft who won an Oscar on her first nomination for The Miracle Worker lost this time around to Geraldine Page (The Trip to Bountiful) who had originated the role on Broadway. Tilly was also nominated for an Oscar in the role originated by Amanda Plummer. Fonda’s role had been played on Broadway by Elizabeth Ashley.

DEAD MAN WALKING (1995), directed by Tim Robbins

Susan Sarandon became the first actress to win an Oscar for playing a nun since Jennifer Jones in The Song of Bernadette. She was the first actress nominated for playing a nun in modern dress, the real-life Helen Prejean, a sister, spiritual advisor, author, and anti-death penalty activist. The film, based on Prejean’s brook, is about her first involvement with a prisoner on Louisiana State Penitentiary’s death row. Sarandon’s longtime partner Tim Robbins wrote the screenplay and directed the film, receiving an Oscar nomination for his direction. Prejean later officiated at Sarandon’s daughter’s wedding in 2011.

NUNS AND OSCAR

• The Song of Bernadette (1943) – Oscar – Best Actress Jennifer Jones
• The Song of Bernadette (1943) – nominated – Best Supporting Actress Gladys Cooper
• The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945) – nominated – Best Actress Ingrid Bergman
• Come to the Stable (1949) – nominated – Best Actress Loretta Young
• Come to the Stable (1949) – nominated – Best Supporting Actress Celeste Holm
• Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957) – nominated – Best Actress Deborah Kerr
• The Nun’s Story (1959) – nominated – Best Actress Audrey Hepburn
• The Sound of Music (1965) – nominated – Best Actress Julie Andrews
• The Sound of Music (1965) – nominated – Best Supporting Actress Peggy Wood
• Agnes of God (1985) – nominated – Best Actress Anne Bancroft
• Dead Man Walking (1995) – Oscar – Best Actress Susan Sarandon