An actress who starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo has made her first public appearance in over a decade.
In 1958 Kim Novak rose to fame playing Judy Barton / Madeleine Elster in the legendary director’s psychological thriller, which was based on the 1954 novel D’entre les morts (From Among the Dead) by Boileau-Narcejac.
It starred James Stewart as a former San Francisco police detective who retired after an incident caused him to develop an extreme fear of heights, accompanied by vertigo.
He is then hired as a private investigator to look into the strange behaviour of an acquaintance’s wife – played by Kim.
Although Vertigo received mixed reviews when it was released, it’s now seen as Hitchcock’s greatest work and one of the best films of all time.
Originally signed with Columbia Pictures in 1954, Kim – born Marilyn Pauline Malloy – became one of Hollywood’s top box office stars after appearing in Picnic, The Man with the Golden Arm, and Pal Joey.
Following Vertigo, she appeared in Bell, Book and Candle, Strangers When We Meet, and Kiss Me, Stupid.
But in 1966 she withdrew from acting after growing tired of living life in the spotlight and facing constant press scrutiny.
After a mudslide destroyed her Bel Air home and the clean-up cost her life savings she moved to Big Sur and retreated from the public eye.
In the years following she appeared on screen sporadically, notably in The Mirror Crack’d and Falcon Crest in the 1980s.
However, when filming the movie Liebestraum in 1991, she retired from acting altogether, later saying she was left ‘burnt out’.
She then turned her focus to other artistic pursuits and became a painter.
Now, 34 years on, she’s been honoured with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement award at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival.
On Monday the 92-year-old made a rare public appearance at the event, where she was presented with the award by director Guillermo del Toro, whose film Frankenstein premiered at the festival a few days ago.
Speaking about the award, Kim said in a statement she was ‘deeply touched’.
‘To be recognised for my body of work at this time in my life is a dream come true. I will treasure every moment I spend in Venice. It will fill my heart with joy,’ she shared.
An insight into Kim’s career is also detailed in the new documentary, Kim Novak’s Vertigo, which also premiered at Venice yesterday.
Her manager Sue Cameron, who is also an executive producer of the film, told People the project had been ‘a dream of mine for over 15 years’.
‘I wanted her to be able to experience all of the stardom all over again,’ she explained.
‘I think it’s truly a masterpiece and really represents who Kim is. Nobody knows who she really is, nobody knows what she went through, the disasters in her childhood, and we cover all of that.’
In 2021 Kim spoke to People about her decision to leave Hollywood, saying: ‘I had to leave to survive… lost a sense of who I truly was and what I stood for. 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.’
Since retiring from acting, she’s faced a string of difficult events, including losing her home in a fire in 2000, being left with a punctured lung, broken ribs, and nerve damage following a horse-riding accident in 2006, and facing a breast cancer diagnosis in 2010.
She’s also been the subject of intense scrutiny about her changing appearance after claims she’d undertaken extensive cosmetic surgery.
In 2014 she presented two awards at the Oscars. In the lead up she had ‘fat injections in her cheeks’ but was then subjected to cruel commentary online.
‘It really did throw me into a tailspin, and it hit me hard,’ she previously shared.
Addressing her ‘bullies’ in an open letter, she wrote: ‘So why did I do it? I trusted somebody doing what I thought they knew how to do best. I should have known better, but what do you do? We do some stupid things in our lives.’
Throughout her career Kim has previously received two Golden Globe Awards, an Honorary Golden Bear, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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