Kim Novak
From Alfred Hitchcock Wiki
 Photograph of Kim Novak and James Stewart ("Vertigo").
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- born: 13/Feb/1933 (Chicago, Illinois, USA)
[edit] Biography
Kim Novak is an American actress who was one of America's most popular movie stars in the late 1950s. She is perhaps best known for her performance in Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo" (1958).
[edit] Early Life
Novak was born Marilyn Pauline Novak in Chicago, Illinois, a Roman Catholic of Czech extraction. Her father was a railroad clerk and former teacher; her mother also was a former teacher, and Novak has a sister.
After graduating from high school, she began her career modeling teen fashions for a local department store. She later received a scholarship at a modeling school and continued to model part time. She also worked as an elevator operator, a sales clerk, and a dental assistant.
After a job touring the country as a spokesman for a refrigerator manufacturer, "Miss Deepfreeze," Novak moved to Los Angeles, where she continued modeling. She then appeared as a model standing on a stairway in the RKO motion picture "The French Line" (1954) starring Jane Russell and Gilbert Roland. For that film, released in 3-D, Novak's bit received no screen credit.
[edit] Film Career
She was seen by a Columbia Pictures talent agent and filmed a screen test. Studio chief Harry Cohn was searching for another beauty to replace the rebellious and difficult Rita Hayworth. Novak was signed to a six-month contract. Columbia decided to make the blonde and buxom actress their version of Marilyn Monroe. She was still using the name Marilyn Novak, and they wanted to change it to Kit Marlowe. She wanted to keep her surname, however, and resisted pressure to change it. She and the studio finally settled on the stage name Kim Novak.
After playing Madge Owens in "Picnic" (1955) opposite William Holden, Novak won a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer and for World Film Favorite. She was also nominated for the British BAFTA Film Award for Best Foreign Actress.
She played Molly in "The Man with the Golden Arm" (1955) opposite Frank Sinatra and Eleanor Parker on loan-out to United Artists. The movie was a big hit. She was paired opposite Sinatra again in "Pal Joey" (1957), which also starred Rita Hayworth.
Her popularity became such that she made the cover of the July 29, 1957, issue of Time Magazine. That same year, she went on strike, protesting at her current salary of $1,250 per week.
In 1958, Novak appeared in a dual role in Hitchcock's classic thriller "Vertigo" opposite James Stewart. She played the dual roles of the elegant, troubled, wealthy blonde Madeleine Elster and the earthy shop girl brunette, Judy Barton. Today, the film is often considered a masterpiece of romantic suspense, and Novak's turn is possibly the best-known and most admired of her career.
She followed "Vertigo" with her role as Gillian Holroyd in "Bell Book and Candle" (1958) opposite James Stewart and Jack Lemmon, with Ernie Kovacs, Hermione Gingold, and Elsa Lanchester, a comedy tale of modern-day witchcraft that did not do well at the box-office, yet today is a popular favorite.
Although some believe that by the early 1960s Novak's career had begun to slide, in fact she refused to accept many of the sexpot, glamour girl roles she was offered. Yet, during the same decade, she also turned down several strong roles including "Breakfast at Tiffany's", "The Hustler", "Days of Wine and Roses", and "The Sandpiper". She played the vulgar waitress Mildred Rogers in a remake of Somerset Maugham's drama "Of Human Bondage" (1964) opposite Laurence Harvey and Robert Morley, and received good reviews. She showed a cunning sense of humor in Billy Wilder's cult classic "Kiss Me, Stupid" (1964) opposite Dean Martin, though the film was critically panned.
Her last appearance on the big screen was as Lillian Anderson Munnsen in the mystery/thriller "Liebestraum" (1991) for MGM, however her scenes were cut from the movie due to her battles with the director over how to play the role. Novak later admitted that she had been "unprofessional" in her conduct with director Mike Figgis, as recounted by gossip columnist Liz Smith. Since that time, she has turned down many other chances to appear in film and on television.
[edit] Personal Life
She had a relationship with Ramfis Trujillo, the son of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, the dictator of the Dominican Republic as well as with the entertainer Sammy Davis, Jr. She has had two husbands, English actor Richard Johnson (1965-1966) and veterinarian Dr. Robert Malloy (1976-present).
Her home in Eagle Point, Oregon, was destroyed in a fire on July 24, 2000. A deputy fire marshall said the blaze was probably caused by a tree falling across a power line. Among Novak's lost mementos were scripts of some of her most critically acclaimed movies, including "Vertigo" and "Picnic". The only existing draft of the actress's autobiography was also lost to the fire.
[edit] Filmography
With Hitchcock...
- Vertigo (1958) - cast: Madeleine Elster / Judy Barton
Other works of note...
[edit] Documentaries
She has appeared in the following Hitchcockian documentaries...
[edit] External Links
[edit] Film Frames
Selection of film frames of Kim Novak (click image to view larger version or refresh thumbnails)...
[edit] Image Gallery
Images from the Hitchcock Gallery (click to view larger versions or search for all relevant images)...
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