Deloris Van Cartier (also known as Sister Mary Clarence) is the main protagonist of the 1992 film Sister Act and its 1993 sequel.
Personality[]
Deloris Van Cartier is a strong-willed and opinionated woman. She does her best to lie on command and hopes to help people as well.
Physical appearance[]
Deloris is an African-American woman, who is about 5'9" and weighs between 150-175 lbs. She has brown eyes, black hair, and no eyebrows.
Appearances[]
Sister Act[]
In 1968, Deloris Wilson is a young Catholic School student at St. Francis Catholic Church. She doesn't take her studies seriously and greatly embarrasses her nun teachers while showing an affinity with music.
Twenty-four years later, in 1992, Deloris is a lounge singer in Reno, Nevada, performing as Deloris Van Cartier, in a club owned by her married gangster boyfriend Vince LaRocca. After her performance, she finally came to the conclusion that she was going to quit the singing gig and leave Vince. Just before she goes to see Vince, he sends down his henchmen Joey and Willy with a gift for Deloris. After they leave, she opens the gift and it is a purple mink coat. At first, she was hesitant and then began to love it until she finds out it belonged to Vince's wife Connie LaRocca.
Deloris went to return the gift and when she walks in to notice Joey and Willy executing an informant. She was able to get away and go to the police station. Police Lieutenant Eddie Souther places Deloris Witness Protection and brings her back to St. Katherine's Parish in San Francisco, CA for her to hide out in their struggling convent.
At first, Deloris and the head nun, Reverend Mother, object to this arrangement, but Lt. Souther and the Parish's priest, Monsignor O'Hara, convince them to go along with it. Deloris is disguised as Sister Mary Clarence. She initially has difficulty dealing with the rigid and simple convent life but she befriends the other nuns.
One night, after a poorly attended Sunday Mass, Deloris decides she needs a break, and sneaks out to a bar, followed by two other nuns, (Sister Mary Patrick and Sister Mary Robert). They are caught by Reverend Mother, who orders Deloris to join the struggling choir. With her singing experience, Deloris is elected as their choir director and transforms the choir.
At the next Sunday Mass, Deloris leads the much-improved choir in a traditional hymn of "Hail Holy Queen' then shifts into a combined gospel and rock and roll interpretation. Although Reverend Mother is infuriated, Monsignor O'Hara congratulates the choir for their unorthodox performance as new people were attracted to the service.
Their singing efforts to revitalize the neighborhood attract media attention, and the parish thrives. Lt. Souther sees her on tv and chastises Deloris for nearly being exposed on national television as Vince has placed a $250,000 bounty on her head. The nun's choir continues to amaze parishioners and visitors, especially with a rendition of "My Guy" - rewritten and performed as "My God."
Monsignor O'Hara informs the convent that Pope John Paul II, having heard of the choir's success, will visit the church.
Lt. Souther discovers that Detective Tate is corrupt and is being paid by Vince and just has he's hanging up the phone, Lt. Souther grabs Tate and pushes him into two other detectives. Realizing that Deloris is in trouble, he rushes to San Francisco to warn her. Vince's men kidnap her and Sister Mary Robert, but Deloris helps Mary Robert escape. Lt. Souther catches up with Sister Mary Robert and she tells him that they were headed back to Reno to the Midnight Lounge.
Reverend Mother reveals to the nuns that Sister Mary Clarence is really Deloris Van Cartier and explains she had been hiding in their convent for her safety. They decide to rescue Deloris, requesting a helicopter pilot to fly them to Reno.
While in Reno, Vince, Joey, and Willy are in Vince's office and orders Joey and Willy to kill Deloris, but they cannot bring themselves to shoot her while she is dressed as a nun. When the arrive at Vince's casino, the nuns find Deloris after she escapes Vince's men. They become trapped in the casino's lounge and Deloris prepares to sacrifice herself. Just has Vince prepares to shoot her, Souther shoots him in the arm through glass and arrests all three.
Thanking Deloris for her actions, Reverend Mother decides to remain as abbess of the convent. Returning to San Francisco, the choir, led by Deloris, sing "I will Follow Him" to a packed audience in a newly refurbished St. Katherine's, receiving a standing ovation from all. Deloris continues to guide and coach the choir as a touring musical group.
Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit[]
Deloris Van Cartier has become a famous performer in Las Vegas, NV since her time posing as a nun to hide from the mob, presenting an entire dinner show based on her experience. During her latest performance, she is reunited with her friends, Sister Mary Patrick, Sister Mary Robert, and Sister Mary Lazarus, who are in the audience. They have come to Las Vegas to beg for her assistance.
Deloris meets with another old friend, the Reverend Mother, who explains that the convent nuns now teach at St. Francis Academy in San Francisco. Come to find out, this is the same school Deloris attended in her childhood. The school faces closure unless its reputation can be improved. The nuns ask her to reprise her persona as Sister Mary Clarence and become the new music teacher. She reluctantly agrees.
At the school, Mary Clarence meets the school's staff of friars, led by the humble but inept Father Maurice, and the diocese administrator, Mr. Crisp, who wants the school the close, so he can receive early retirement.
Sister Mary Clarence comes to her first class, which is a music class. She meets a group of rowdy teenagers, who attend the class with the expectation of receiving an easy "A". She starts butting heads with the ringleader, Rita Watson. When Sister Mary Clarence informs the students they will have to actually earn their grades and that it was no longer a "fly-by" course, Rita ends up walking out. The other students stay to avoid failure. When they break into spontaneous, synchronized singing, Sister Mary Clarence is inspired to turn them into an actual choir. Initially, the students are dismayed and object to her proposal, fearing it will damage their street credibility.
As Sister Mary Robert comes into the sanctuary, she overhears Rita and a friend singing at the piano. They stop singing when they see her. She recommends that Sister Mary Clarence convinces Rita to return to class. Students, nuns and friars work to restore the school's decrepit music room, and the class begins to practice extensively.
The nuns discover numerous trophies, revealing the school won the All-State Choir Competition multiple times in the past, and decides to enter them into it once again. Father Maurice allows it, as long as they raise the money themselves and each student has a signed parental permission slip.
Rita's strict, but well-meaning mother Florence refuses to let her attend the competition as she believes having a musical career is a dead end because her husband died trying to chase fame. However, Rita didn't see it that way and forges her mother's signature to attend, leaving an apology note for her disobedience, prompting Florence to drive to Hollywood to see the competition.
Mr. Crisp sees a magazine in the school's library with Deloris on the cover. Recognizing her a Sister Mary Clarence, he warns Father Maurice of the sham. The choir has already left for the competition, so the friars pile into their old van and race to confront Sister Mary Clarence.
Backstage at the competition, the kids are intimidated by the returning champions and consider quitting, but Sister Mary Clarence inspires them to continue on. The friars arrive, and Father Maurice decides to support the choir upon seeing their enthusiasm. The other friars trap Mr. Crisp into a closet to prevent him from interfering.
The kids takes to the stage. Rita has a solo part at the beginning of the song and becomes stage fright upon seeing her mother in the audience. She then proceeds to perform an impressive solo before the rest of the choir perform an urban contemporary gospel rendition of "Joyful, Joyful" with a hip hop choreography.
The kids are getting nervous as they begin to announce the 3rd, and 2nd place winners. At first, they didn't think they won the competition because the returning champions won 2nd place. Just then, the emcee announces St. Francis Academy as the winners of the 1993 All-State Music Competition.
Since they won, the school's local diocese (or bishopric) agrees to keep the school from closing.
Backstage, Rita runs into her mother and apologizes many times for disobeying her mother. Florence realizes her daughter's musical talents and they make amends agreeing to better their relationship. That's when the kids learn that Sister Mary Clarence is actually a professional singer.
Trivia[]
- Bette Midler was originally intended for the role of Deloris, but later turned down the role, fearing that her fans would not want to see her play a nun. Eventually, Whoopi Goldberg signed to play the lead.
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