Mary Wickes Makes a Habit of Playing Nuns on the Run

In the ‘60s comedies “The Trouble With Angels” and “Where Angels Go Trouble Follows,” veteran actress Mary Wickes played Sister Clarissa, who “drove the bus and wore high black basketball shoes like the men.”

Wickes is back in the habit as the tough-as-a-Marine singing nun, Sister Mary Lazarus, in the hit Whoopi Goldberg comedy “Sister Act.”

The sisterhood has always fascinated Wickes, who is an Anglican. “There is a romance about it. There is a tradition.”

She even found her personality changed when she put on the habit. “It’s amazing, when you are in the habit you get quieter as far as your gestures are concerned,” Wickes says. “You find yourself quite relaxed and reposed, which is new for me.”

In fact, wearing her nun costume got to be habit-forming. “I enjoy it. You don’t have to worry about getting (to the set) early and getting your hair done.”

The St. Louis native made her film debut 51 years ago as Monty Woolley’s nurse in the George S. Kaufman-Moss Hart classic “The Man Who Came to Dinner.” Wickes originated the role on Broadway in 1939. When Kaufman and Hart sold the movie rights to Warner Bros., they insisted Wickes reprise her role.

“I was pleased as punch. (Kaufman) even set my salary.”

Wickes has appeared in 17 Broadway plays, 40 movies--including, “Now, Voyager” and “White Christmas”--and such TV series as “The Father Dowling Mysteries,” “Doc,” “Make Room for Daddy” and “The Halls of Ivy.” She was the original “Mary Poppins” on “Studio One” in the ‘50s.

Wickes admits Hollywood isn’t the same as when she started. “At the Warner lot, every stage had a big service truck,” she recalls. “You would come off the set and a man would come over and say, ‘Would you like a sandwich? Can I get you something to drink?’ I thought, ‘ This is living!’ ”