The Singing Nun The Singing Nun Jeanne-Paule Marie "Jeannine" Deckers (17 October 1933 – 29 March 1985), better known as Sœur Sourire ("Sister Smile", often credited as The Singing Nun in English-speaking countries), was a Belgian singer-songwriter and initially a member of the Dominican Order in Belgium as Sister Luc-Gabrielle. She acquired world fame in 1963 with the release of the French-language song "Dominique", which topped the US Billboard Hot 100 and other charts. She was born Jeanne Paule Deckers in Laeken in 1933, the daughter of a pâtisserie shop owner, and was educated in a Catholic school in Brussels. She was a
The Singing Nun (film) The Singing Nun (film) The Singing Nun is a 1966 American semi-biographical drama film about the life of Jeanine Deckers, a nun who recorded the chart-topping hit song "Dominique". Directed by Henry Koster in his final film, it starred Debbie Reynolds in the title role, and features Ricardo Montalbán, Katharine Ross, Chad Everett, and Ed Sullivan as himself. Harry Sukman was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment. The film featured nine songs by Deckers (credited as Soeur Sourire), of which five had English verses as translated by Randy Sparks, who also wrote