Hollywood legend Kim Novak opened up about her decision to leave the industry, the realities of ageing, and her family background in a new documentary.
The 92-year-old star has rarely given interviews but the documentary, Kim Novak’s Vertigo, gave insight, for the first time, on why she quit the film industry to live as a painter in the woods of Oregon.
The film aired at the 82nd Venice Film Festival on September 1, the same day she received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.
The documentary began with Novak admitting, “It’s not easy getting old.”
“I’m feeling it’s close to the end,” she shared.
Women in Hollywood
Novak also opened up about the extent that film producers, including Columbia Pictures President Harry Cohn, attempted to control her life. Cohn was said to have tried to have her change her name to Kit Marlowe and discontinue the affair she was having with Sammy Davis Jr.
“Every part of my life was controlled,” Novak said. “He called me ‘the fat Pollack.’ ”
The industry’s treatment of women made her realize she needed to leave while she could, and she ended her acting career after a flood destroyed a large proportion of her assets in 1966.
Speaking of fellow film icon Marilyn Monroe, Novak said, “Hollywood swallowed people whole…I didn’t want that to happen to me."