The Catholic Defender: Actress Jane Wyman, once married to Ronald Reagan, converted to Catholicism in 1954.

Academy Award-winning actress Jane Wyman actually completed her conversion to Catholicism in 1953, though she and her children were formally received and baptized into the Catholic Church during a ceremony on December 8, 1954.

 While filming The Blue Veil (1951) at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, and grieving the 1947 loss of her infant daughter Christina, Wyman found a deeper spiritual connection. Her close friend and fellow actress Loretta Young also heavily influenced her spiritual path.

 On December 8, 1954—the Feast of the Immaculate Conception—she, along with her children Maureen and Michael, was baptized at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills.

Wyman was married to future U.S. President Ronald Reagan from 1940 until their divorce was finalized in 1949. Following her conversion, she never remarried.

 Wyman became a Third Order Dominican (a lay tertiary). Her devotion was so profound that upon her death in 2007, she was buried in a Dominican nun's habit.

Oscar-winning actress Jane Wyman, once married to future president Ronald Reagan, joined the Catholic Church as an adult and became a benefactor to several Catholic causes.

Wyman died Sept. 10 at her home in Rancho Mirage. The cause of death was not disclosed. While her age was placed at 90, other sources suggested she may have been 93.

“The death of Jane Wyman marks the loss not only of a great actress, but a great woman of faith and a personal friend,” said a Sept. 10 statement from Bishop Gerald R. Barnes of San Bernardino.

“Her support of the work of the Catholic Church in the Coachella Valley and the Diocese of San Bernardino made possible many wonderful things, including the Blessed Junipero Serra House of Formation,” Bishop Barnes said.

Wyman also was a strong supporter of Hollywood’s Covenant House and Our Lady of Angels Monastery. She also reportedly went to Mass with fellow Catholic actress Loretta Young, who died in 2000.