Tuesday marks the 91st birthday for Kim Novak, the star of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 film Vertigo, who walked away from Hollywood over five decades ago.
“She’s spending her birthday having a picnic on her property with friends and lots of fudge,” says her longtime manager and close friend Sue Cameron.
Life is sweet these days for Novak, who lives quietly on the Oregon coast, surrounded by her beloved horses.
In honor of her 91st birthday, read on for an interview from 2021 in which Novak shared why she left Hollywood and found her true self.
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Over 50 years ago, Kim Novak, the enigmatic star of Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, walked away from Hollywood. The woman who had once been the No. 1 box office draw in the world put her belongings in a van and drove north, first to Carmel, California and then two decades later to Oregon, to live her life as an artist.
“I had to leave to survive,” she tells PEOPLE. “It was a survival issue.”
“I lost a sense of who I truly was and what I stood for,” says Novak in a rare interview to talk about her new book, Kim Novak : Her Art and Life. published by the Butler Museum of American Art.
“I fought all the time back in Hollywood to keep my identity so you do whatever you have to do to hold on to who you are and what you stand for,” she explains.
“I’ve never done one of those tell-all books that they wanted me to do for so long, and I thought this is the kind of book I’d like to do,” she says of her art book. “Actually, I had written my autobiography and it was almost complete but I had a house fire and the house burned down and I made no copies. I just couldn’t go through it again because I had spent so much time. But it was okay because it was a catharsis just to do it.”
After starring in Picnic (1955) with William Holden, The Man With the Golden Arm (1955) and Pal Joey (1957), opposite Frank Sinatra, and Vertigo, with Jimmy Stewart, Novak was at the height of her career but still under the control of the studio.
As she writes in her book’s introduction, “I was both dazzled and disturbed to see me being packaged as a Hollywood sex symbol. However, I did win my fight over identity. I wouldn’t allow [Columbia Pictures chief] Harry Cohn to take my bohemian roots away by denying me my family name. Novak. I stood my ground and won my first major battle.”
Cohn wanted her to change her name to Kit Marlowe, telling her that audiences would be turned off by her Eastern European roots. She refused. In the late ’50s, she defied him again when she began dating singer Sammy Davis Jr. against his wishes and she fought to live her life as an independent woman.
“There was constant pressure to be seen and not heard,” writes Novak, “especially if you had a pretty face.”
“In Hollywood a lot of people assume who you are, because of the character you play, but also just because of who they expect you to be, how they expect you to dress,” she says. “It influences you because if you’re in some gorgeous sequined gown, you can’t run along the ocean and run on the beaches.”
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“I kept feeling like I was going deeper and deeper, lost in almost like a quicksand, where it’s swallowing you up, your own personality, and I’d started to wonder who I am,” she explains. “I realized needed to save myself.”
She found peace living and painting in the Rogue River Valley of Oregon and notes, “I needed the Pacific Ocean to inspire me, the animals, the beauty.”
“I wanted to live a normal life and a life with animals,” says the actress, who had always loved drawing and painting as a young girl growing up in Chicago. She was awarded two scholarships to the Chicago Art Institute before she was spotted by a talent scout on a trip to L.A. and her life changed course.
Once she left Hollywood, Novak returned to her twin passions: art and animals. “My teachers were the animals, not just dogs and cats, but other animals, horses and llamas, whom you have to meet half way, because they’re not ready to accept humans. I had to learn to win them over,” she says. “They understand a person who’s genuine so I had to become more real and that made me rely on my inner self — and that also encouraged me to paint. Everything seemed to flow from that.”
“You learn how to count on, not how you look, which is a big thing as a movie star, especially if you were recognized because of how you look,” she adds. “That can be a difficult thing when you change — but looks had nothing to do with it.”
She met second husband, Robert Malloy, an equine veterinarian, in the late ’70s, when he paid her a house call to treat one of her Arabian horses. She called him her “soul mate.” He died last December.
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“I don’t feel 87,” says Novak. “I don’t keep tract of the time. If I did, I’d be an old lady and I’m not an old lady. I’m still riding my horse. I stay as healthy as I can.”
In 2012, Novak revealed she’d been living with bipolar disorder. “I don’t mind being open about who I am because these are all characteristics which make you who you are, especially as an artist,” she says. “Now, of course, I have medication for it but the best medicine of all is art.”
She’s proud of her favorite films, including Vertigo and Bell, Book and Candle (1958), and has fond memories, especially of her friend and costar Jimmy Stewart. Says Novak: “He didn’t let Hollywood change who he was.”
“People can remember me in movies but I want them to see me as an artist,” says Novak, whose paintings were exhibited at a 2019 retrospective at the Butler Museum in Youngstown, Ohio. “What’s great about painting is, you become the director too. No one’s telling you how to do it. You get to direct the whole thing.”
“I’ve been influenced a lot by Hitchcock in my work because he did mysteries and at first glance, I want my painting to be a mystery,” she says. “I love being the director, the producer, the actor in my paintings.”
“This is who I am. I want people to see I was not just a movie star.”
Looking back, Novak says, “I’m so glad I didn’t do the tell-all book, where you write all about your love life. That wasn’t who I was. This book tells who I am. I just needed to be free.”
The health issues of Tom Selleck
Tom Selleck is one of the handful who has had success in Hollywood. He is incredibly talented and fortunate to have survived this long in the business. Though many people aspire to work in Hollywood, very few truly succeed. One of the notable exceptions is Tom Selleck.
When he was chosen to play the protagonist in Magnum P.I., this performer had his big break. He received five Emmy Award nominations for the program, which was a great hit, and he won one in 1985.
Before becoming well-known, he played minor roles in movies and T.V. shows, appeared in advertisements, and even participated in The Dating Game. Though he now describes the incident as “humiliating and unpleasant,” it is clear that it did not prevent him from reaching his goals.
Tom Selleck, is best known for his roles in Magnum P.I. and Friends. His career did not start smoothly; he was turned down for employment and was withdrawn from talent programs.
He persisted, nevertheless, and in the long run, he was successful. Selleck says that the fact that he didn’t land a legitimate job until he was 35 is the reason for his success. As a result, he developed into the kind of actor people would be willing to accept as a leading man.
Tom Selleck has claimed that he would have given up acting entirely if Magnum P.I. had not been successful. In an interview, he revealed this and said that the job arrived just as he wanted to give up on his acting career. Finally, thanks to Magnum P.I, Selleck could continue his career in the field he loves.
The television series Blue Bloods gave Selleck the part of Frank Reagan, for which he is also adored. He has performed in this role since 2010, and the show’s 13th season has been approved.
Original Magnum P.I. co-stars Tom Selleck and Larry Manetti have reunited for an upcoming episode of Selleck’s CBS show Blue Bloods.
The two haven’t been seen together onscreen in over thirty years, except for a joint performance in Las Vegas in 2007. Blue Bloods star Donnie Wahlberg expressed his delight about the reunion on Twitter, lamenting the absence of other former Magnum P.I. cast mates such as Roger E. Mosley and John Hillerman.
This uncommon cooperation between two renowned actors will undoubtedly excite fans of both series.
Tom Selleck, who acted as the lead in the legendary T.V. series Magnum P.I., was recently spotted filming with the actors of Blue Bloods. He was joined by Magnum P.I. co-star John Hillerman and current Blue Bloods cast mates Bridget Moynahan, Andrew Terraciano, Will Estes, and Vanessa Ray. Manetti has also been in popular shows such as Walker, Texas Ranger, and JAG. At the same time, Selleck stars in the 13th season of the long-running show as New York Police Commissioner and family patriarch Frank Reagan.
Blue Bloods has been a phenomenal success for CBS, frequently placing among the network’s most-watched scripted shows and playing an essential role in the network’s popular Friday night lineup. Negotiations are underway to renew the series for a fourteenth season, which would demonstrate its strength in an increasingly competitive market.
It has achieved significant viewership on CBS and received high ratings through syndication and worldwide distribution. Blue Bloods’ broad popularity has made it a significant financial asset for CBS Studios.
Since he has completed most of his stunts over the years, Selleck’s body has suffered, and he is no longer as physically fit as he once was, admitting that his back is messed up. Despite this, he remains one of Blue Bloods’ key stars and plays an active part in the series.
You take a risk when performing stunts for movies. You do, however, spend a lot of time sitting around. For instance, you might have to sit in your chair for a bit after performing a combat scene.
Without someone to keep you warm and stretched out, this might be difficult for your body. All of this stop-and-go might wear you out over time.
The actor works hard on his ranch in Ventura, California, and is committed to maintaining his health. He also has a strong affection for horses, which he wants to pass on to his daughter.
Selleck and Jillie Mack have been married for an astounding 35 years. They have a strong bond since Selleck constantly prioritizes his family.
In 2012, Selleck claimed that he left Magnum to start a family and that it took a while to get off the train. He clarified, however, that the ranch had assisted him in finding balance in his life.
His wife continued, saying they both believed it to be the ideal setting for their daughter to grow up in. We send Tom Selleck our best wishes.
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