Kim Novak

Early life

Marilyn Pauline Novak was born in Chicago, Illinois, on February 13, 1933. She is the second daughter of Joseph and Blanche (née Kral) Novak; both appeared with her in the 1962 film The Notorious Landlady. Both of her parents were born in Chicago and were of Czech descent. Joseph (1897–1987) was a history teacher and took a job as a freight dispatcher on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad during the Great Depression.

Novak attended William Penn Elementary, Farragut High School, and Wright Junior College, where she carpooled with Frank Studrawa and Joe Tyrner. She won two scholarships to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

During the summer break in her last semester of junior college Novak went on a cross-country tour as a promotional model for Detroit Motor Products Corporation's Deepfreeze home freezer at trade shows. Novak was pronounced "Miss Deepfreeze".

Acting career

1953–1958: Early films and breakthrough

In San Francisco, after the refrigerator company tour ended, Novak and two other models decided to travel to Los Angeles, to check out the film industry. In Los Angeles, the three, with her as Marilyn Novak, were extras in Son of Sinbad (filmed in 1953, released in 1955), and later, for The French Line (1953), starring Jane Russell at RKO. In Los Angeles, Novak was discovered by an agent, who signed her to a long-term contract with Columbia Pictures. From the beginning of her career, she wanted to be an original and not another stereotype. Therefore, Novak fought with Columbia's CEO, Harry Cohn, over the changing of her name. Cohn suggested the name "Kit Marlowe", arguing, "Nobody's gonna go see a girl with a Polack name!", but Novak insisted on keeping her name, saying, "I'm Czech, but Polish, Czech, no matter, it's my name!" They eventually settled on the name "Kim Novak" as a compromise.

Columbia intended for Novak to be their successor to Rita Hayworth, their biggest star of the 1940s, whose career had declined; also, the studio was hopeful that Novak would bring them the same box-office success Marilyn Monroe brought 20th Century-Fox. Novak's first role for the studio was in the film noir Pushover (1954), in which she received third billing below Fred MacMurray and Philip Carey. She then co-starred in the romantic comedy Phffft (1954) as Janis, a character who finds Robert Tracey (Jack Lemmon) "real cute". Both films were reasonably successful at the box office, and Novak received favorable reviews for her performances. In her third feature film, 5 Against the House (1955), a gritty crime drama, she received second billing after Guy Madison but above Brian Keith, all three above the title. It was only a minor critical and box-office success.

Novak then played Madge Owens in the film version of Picnic (1955), from the William Inge play, co-starring William Holden and Rosalind Russell. Its director, Joshua Logan, felt that it would be more in character for Novak to have red hair; she agreed to wear a red wig during filming. Logan says Harry Cohn suggested Novak appear in the film but did not insist upon it: the director tested her for the role several times and was delighted with her performance, feeling she was close to her character. Picnic was a resounding critical and box-office triumph, and Novak won a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer. She was also nominated for the BAFTA Film Award for Best Foreign Actress but did not win. She appeared as a mystery guest on the game show What's My Line? on February 5, 1956, to promote the film's opening at the Radio City Music Hall. Director Otto Preminger then cast her in The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), in which she played Frank Sinatra's sultry ex-girlfriend. In a cast that included Eleanor Parker, Novak received praise for being one of the film's bright spots, and the film was a box-office hit.

1958: Vertigo

Director Alfred Hitchcock was working on his next film, Vertigo (1958), when his leading actress, Vera Miles, became pregnant and had to withdraw from the complex roles of Madeleine Elster and Judy Barton. Hitchcock approached Harry Cohn to offer Novak the female lead without even requesting a screen test. Though Cohn hated the script, he allowed Novak to read it because he considered Hitchcock to be a great director. Novak loved it, as she could identify with the character, and agreed to take part in the film without meeting Hitchcock. At the same time she was striking for more money from Columbia and refused to show up for work on the set to protest against her salary of $1,250 a week. Novak hired new agents to represent her and demanded an adjustment in her contract. Cohn, who was paid $250,000 for Novak to do Vertigo, suspended her, but after a few weeks of negotiations he relented and offered her a new contract. She received a raise to $3,000 a week and told the press, "I don't like to have anyone take advantage of me."

Novak finally reported for work, and according to Hitchcock she had "all sorts of preconceived notions" about her character, including what she would and would not wear. Before shooting began she told the director she did not like the grey suit and black shoes she was slated to wear, thinking them too heavy and stiff for her character. Novak later recalled, "I didn't think it would matter to him what kind of shoes I wore. I had never had a director who was particular about the costumes, the way they were designed, the specific colors. The two things he wanted the most were those shoes and that gray suit." Indeed, Hitchcock explained to Novak that the visual aspect of the film was even more important to him than the story and insisted on her wearing the suit and the shoes that he had been planning for several months. Novak learned to make it work for her, as she saw it as a symbol of her character. Nonetheless, Hitchcock allowed Novak the freedom to develop the character herself. As she later recalled: "It excites me to work on dual personalities because I think I have many myself. And I think that I was able to use so much of me in that movie. At first I was feeling insecure because I kept saying, "Is this right? How do you want me to play this character?" Hitchcock said: "I hired you and that's who I want, what you bring to this role. But what I do expect from you is to stand where I want you to, wear what I want you to and speak in the rhythm that I want you to." And he worked a long time with me to try to get the right rhythm." The role took on a personal significance for her, as she felt she went through the same thing as her character when she arrived in Hollywood:

From my point of view, when I first read those lines where she says, "I want you to love me for me," and all the talking in that scene, I just identified with it so much because going to Hollywood as a young girl and suddenly finding they want to make you over totally, it's such a total change and it was like I was always fighting to show some of myself, feeling that I wanted to be there as well. It was like they'd do my hair and go and redo a bunch of things. So I really identified with the fact of someone that was being made over with the resentment, with wanting to. Needing approval and wanting to be loved and willing, eventually, to go to any lengths to get that by changing her hair and all of these different things. And then when Judy appears, it's another story and then when she has to go through that change. I really identified with the movie because it was saying, "Please, see who I am. Fall in love with me."

1958–1965: Career decline and other ventures

Novak again worked with Stewart in Richard Quine's Bell, Book and Candle (also 1958), a comedy tale of modern-day witchcraft also starring Jack Lemmon and Ernie Kovacs that proved to be a box-office success. She then starred opposite Fredric March in the acclaimed romantic drama Middle of the Night (1959), which she has described as not only her favorite of her films, but also cites her performance in the film as her best.

Novak starred opposite Kirk Douglas in the romantic drama Strangers When We Meet (1960), which drew mixed reviews but was a success financially. Richard Quine was the director, as well as her fiancé at the time. The studio planned to give them the house that was built as part of the storyline during the filming as a wedding gift, but their wedding never occurred. Instead, during the last film that Quine and she made together, the British mystery/comedy The Notorious Landlady (1962) with Jack Lemmon and Fred Astaire, she discovered and purchased her future home by the sea near Big Sur in central California. It became her retreat and sanctuary after leaving Hollywood.

Novak made an independent five-picture deal, with producer Martin Ransohoff and Filmways Pictures to co-produce, but it proved to be a bad choice owing to clashes with personalities over scripts. Their first endeavor, the comedy Boys' Night Out (1962), was unsuccessful. After her Hollywood house survived the big Bel Air Fire of 1961, it was finally lost a few years later when it was swept away with most of her belongings in a mudslide in 1966. During the interim, she made W. Somerset Maugham's drama Of Human Bondage (1964) with Laurence Harvey in Ireland. This third film adaptation of the famous story went over schedule and budget, and it also failed.

The sex comedy Kiss Me, Stupid (1964) with Dean Martin followed for director Billy Wilder. Actor Peter Sellers had originally been selected and begun filming, but he had suffered a heart attack, so Ray Walston substituted at the last minute. The film had problems getting released because of conflicts with the Legion of Decency. The film opened to scathing reviews and while it made money, it did not help Novak's career. Years later it was rediscovered and acclaimed for its forward thinking and got rave reviews, particularly for Novak's performance as "Polly the Pistol".

Novak starred in the historical comedy The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965) in England with British actor Richard Johnson. Inspired by the similar movie Tom Jones, it drew negative reviews but was a moderate success at the box office. Novak married Johnson in 1965 and divorced him in the spring of 1966. The divorce was amicable and they remained friendly.

1966–1991: Acting sporadically

By the end of 1966, Novak was emotionally drained and no longer wanted to live the life of a Hollywood movie star in the glare of the spotlight with the press scrutinizing her every move. When a mudslide took her Bel Air home and cost her entire life's savings in bulldozer fees, she moved away from Hollywood to Big Sur. From then on, acting became a job and was no longer a career of choice. Novak preferred to concentrate on her first love, the visual arts, often writing poetry to accompany her paintings, and even writing some song lyrics. Harry Belafonte and the Kingston Trio recorded some of her folk songs in the 1960s.

Novak returned to the screen for The Legend of Lylah Clare (1968), starring Peter Finch and Ernest Borgnine, and directed by Robert Aldrich. She played a dual role, portraying a person who becomes possessed by a look-alike film actress who gets made over by her obsessive-compulsive director lover. Robert Aldrich asked Novak to do a German accent for that role, but she felt it was unbelievable and over the top, so she did not want to do it, and he never insisted. At the premiere, Novak was shocked to hear her voice had been dubbed by a German actress in many scenes. Aldrich had never told her, nor had he given her the opportunity to dub it herself. The film was aggressively scorned by critics and Novak drew some of the worst reviews of her career. It was also a box office disaster. She was extremely upset and regretted having starred in the film. The last film Novak made in the '60s was the Western comedy The Great Bank Robbery (1969), opposite Zero Mostel, Clint Walker, and Claude Akins.

After nearly four years that she described as a "self-imposed vacation", Novak agreed to take part in two projects. She returned to the screen with a role in the horror anthology film Tales That Witness Madness (1973). Novak also starred as Las Vegas chorus girl Gloria Joyce, a character with whom she could identify, in the made-for-TV movie, The Third Girl From the Left (1973), with her real-life boyfriend at the time, Michael Brandon. Novak admitted a preference for TV films as she thought they were faster to shoot than features. She described movie scripts of that time as offensive, saying she disliked the unnecessary sex she found in most of them. In 1975, Novak took part in the ABC movie Satan's Triangle because she was intrigued by the story, which dealt in the supernatural. Novak had a small role in The White Buffalo (1977), a Western starring Charles Bronson, and she ended the decade by playing Helga in Just a Gigolo (1979), opposite David Bowie. Both films were flops, but Novak was not blamed due to her minor roles in them.

1992–present: Retirement

After her retirement from acting, Novak made only rare public appearances and turned down most offers she received. In 1996, Vertigo was given a restoration by Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz and re-released to theaters. Novak enjoyed their work so much, she agreed to make appearances at screenings of the film, something she had refused when Universal asked her in 1984. She also took part in Obsessed with Vertigo, a documentary retracing the making and restoration of the film. In 1997, Novak received an Honorary Golden Bear Award for lifetime achievement at the 47th Berlin International Film Festival.

In 2003, Novak was presented with the Eastman Kodak Archives Award for her major contribution to film. Prior honorees include Greta Garbo, Audrey Hepburn, James Stewart, Martin Scorsese, and Meryl Streep. During that time, Novak received several offers to do some major films and to appear on high-profile television shows. She made an appearance on Larry King Live in 2004, where she stated she would consider returning to the screen "if it was the right role." In 2010, Novak was the recipient of a special tribute from the American Cinematheque in Hollywood, where her films were shown at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre. She made a rare personal appearance with a Q&A onstage between a showing of Pal Joey and Bell, Book and Candle, earning a two-minute-long standing ovation upon her entrance.

In April 2012, Novak was honored at the TCM Classic Film Festival, where she introduced a screening of Vertigo. She joined in conversation with Robert Osborne for a Q&A session in which she discussed her career and personal life. The hour-long interview aired on TCM as Kim Novak: Live from the TCM Classic Film Festival on March 6, 2013. Novak broke down in tears while discussing Liebestraum. As she nearly sobbed in front of the audience, Novak said, "I couldn't do a movie after that. I've never done a movie after that. I just couldn't do a movie after that."

The interview was an eye-opener for many fans who had wondered why Novak made so few films. Acknowledging that she never reached her potential as an actress, Novak revealed to the audience that she was bipolar and explained, "I was not diagnosed until much later. I go through more of the depression than the mania part." "I don't think I was ever cut out to have a Hollywood life," Novak also commented. "Did I do the right thing, leaving? Did I walk out when I shouldn't have? That's when I get sad."

Honors

In 1955, Novak won the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Female. Two years later she won another Golden Globe for World Favorite Female Actress. On February 8, 1960, Novak was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6332 Hollywood Boulevard. In 1995, Novak was ranked 92nd by Empire Magazine on a list of the 100 sexiest stars in film history. Novak was honored with a Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement at the 47th Berlin International Film Festival in 1997 and was presented with the Eastman Kodak Archives Award for her major contribution to film in 2003. In 2012, Novak was honored in a handprint and footprint ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. That same year, she received the S.F. Cinematic Icon Award from the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society for her screen contributions in San Francisco with Pal Joey and Vertigo. Her contribution to world cinema was also rewarded with the Kristián Award she was given at the 22nd Febiofest international film festival in 2015.

Novak's work influenced both actors and fashion designers. Naomi Watts stated that her character interpretation in Mulholland Drive (2001) was influenced by the look and performances of Novak in Vertigo. Renée Zellweger said that Novak was "pure magic" and dressed up as her character from Vertigo for a photo shoot for the March 2008 issue of Vanity Fair. Nicole Kidman wrote Novak a letter saying she was "an inspiration to me and to women everywhere. Your cinematic body of work speaks for yourself, but so does the other side of Kim Novak – the free spirit who left Hollywood to live atop the hills of Big Sur. Kim Novak the painter and llama farmer. You are an icon whose screen presence is unmatched, and yet you've lived your life with dignity and authenticity, and the courage to follow your heart wherever it takes you." In 2005, British fashion designer Alexander McQueen named his first It Bag The Novak, saying, "I'm drawn to Kim Novak in the same way that Hitchcock was. She had an air of uptightness you wouldn't want to cross."

Personal life

In the mid-1950s, Novak had relationships with Ramfis Trujillo, son of Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo, and in 1957 with actor Sammy Davis Jr., who was African American. According to a BBC documentary, in order to force an end to her relationship with a Black man, Columbia Pictures chief Harry Cohn had mobsters threaten Davis with blinding of his one remaining eye, or having his legs broken, if he did not marry a Black woman within 48 hours. Novak also dated Michael Brandon, Wilt Chamberlain, and David Hemmings. She was engaged to director Richard Quine in 1959. Novak's first marriage was to English actor Richard Johnson from March 15, 1965, to May 26, 1966. The two remained friends afterward.

In 1966, Novak left Hollywood for Big Sur, where she raised horses and painted, making an occasional film. In 1974, she met her second husband, equine veterinarian Robert Malloy, when he made a house call after one of her Arabian mares suffered colic. They married on March 12, 1976. As a result of her marriage, she has two adult stepchildren.

The couple built a log home along the Williamson River near Chiloquin, Oregon. Malloy died on November 27, 2020.

In 1997, Novak and Malloy bought a 43-acre ranch in Sams Valley, Oregon, which the couple made into their home. Novak took pastel classes with artists Harley Brown and Richard McKinley. In July 2000, when her home burned down, she lost all her art and the only draft of the autobiography she had been working on for 10 years. In 2006, Novak was injured in a horse-riding accident. She suffered a punctured lung, broken ribs, and nerve damage, but made a full recovery within a year.

In October 2010, her manager, Sue Cameron, reported that Novak had been diagnosed with breast cancer, but was undergoing treatment and doctors said that she is in fantastic physical shape. She made a full recovery.

In 2014, after Novak's rare public appearance at the 86th Academy Awards, the media speculated that she had undergone cosmetic surgery. Novak, upset by these remarks,

wrote an open letter responding to these Oscar-night "bullies". Novak admitted that she "had fat injections in my face" which seemed less invasive than a face-lift, but later regretted it.