Vertigo Star Kim Novak Is Spending Her 91st Birthday with ‘Friends and Lots of Fudge’ (Exclusive)

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.

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.”

“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.

“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.”

Woman Suspected Her Husband of Cheating with Their Cleaning Lady – The Reality Left Her Shocked

John and Sarah don’t have much time for housework because they are so focused on their careers. John decides to hire a cleaner in order to ease their lives. However, the pair quickly discovers that drama has entered their house.

John, my spouse, and I have always placed a high value on our careers. However, our careers have taken off so much that we hardly have time to maintain our house.

As an architect, I have to travel frequently between locations, but John works remotely as long as he has access to a computer.

I have a close friendship with John. The motto “work hard, play harder” has always been appealing to us. We put in a lot of work, and when we can, we take the nicest vacations.

–Promotion–

But lately, I’ve started to doubt John despite my better judgment.

He made a big decision around six months ago when he hired Vanessa, a cleaner who was referred to him by a nearby organization.

One morning as he was drinking his coffee, he commented, “It’s just to help us around the house, Sarah.”

I wasn’t sure whether I wanted a stranger to search our house when we weren’t there, but I answered, “I think we can manage.”

John remarked, “We’ve been so behind on laundry.” “Our hours are insane.” We can carry on as usual at least with the cleaner, and having a clean house will be a plus.

In the end, I caved. I was sick of doing laundry at night and then forgetting about it, I had to admit.

Then, though, things changed.

John was a home worker, as far as I knew.

I’m just in my comfort zone, so it’s easier. Additionally, I can think more clearly when my coworkers aren’t talking,” he remarked.

Vanessa came to live with us as a cleaner, and I saw that John spent more time working from home. I dismissed it at first, figuring it was just a coincidence, but I also knew Vanessa was a really beautiful woman.

I would obsess on John’s actions at home, convinced that he was having an affair with Vanessa, rather than focusing at work.

I completed the task at hand.

One day, I left work early, knowing that John had chosen to work from home and that Vanessa would be spending the day at our house.

Silently driving back to our home, I wondered what I would do if I discovered them in compromised positions.

I told myself, You’re going to leave him. After you depart, you’ll begin a new life.

When I entered the house, I expected to see John at his desk, but his home office was unoccupied.

I assumed Vanessa would be in the kitchen when I stepped in, but it was also empty.

There was laughter coming from my room as I ascended the stairs, and there were garments all over my bedroom door threshold.

Heart thumping from the impending sight, I stormed into our bedroom. Even though it was a gut punch, it was a man I had never seen before, not John, who was sleeping on the bed with Vanessa.

I was so angry because I couldn’t believe my own family had betrayed me.

“What’s happening here?” With a voice quivering from anger and amazement, I demanded. The fact that the man wasn’t John relieved me. But why did Vanessa think it was acceptable to let someone else sleep in our bed?

Vanessa was stunned, her eyes bulging with shame, as the unidentified man struggled to put on his clothes.

“We… “Ma’am, I didn’t mean for this to happen,” she stumbled and shook her head, trying to defend her conduct.

I ordered them to leave my house or face the repercussions of their behavior, but her words were ignored.

I resisted, threatening to call the cops. After telling her partner to leave the house, Vanessa stayed back.

“Allow me to clarify,” she said.

I couldn’t think of the right words to describe why I didn’t want to look at her for another second as I gazed at her.

“All I wanted was a job,” she declared. And I was really appreciative that the agency paired me up with John and you. However, as I got to know this guy, I started to feel something for him.

“For what duration has this been ongoing?” Not wanting to hear more, I asked.

“Just a few weeks, tops,” she remarked. However, I’ve been dating Julian for some time. I asked him over as soon as I realized I would be alone at home today.

Calmly, I told her to get outside. “Just get out of my house.”

John was at the grocery store when I called him.

He said, “I just came to get some stuff for dinner.”

When I informed him what had happened, he promised to come home right away.

I made John replace our dirty bedding as soon as he got home from Vanessa and Julian’s afternoon activities.

It seems that John had naively trusted Vanessa without realizing her true intentions.

John remarked, “She became a companion.” Nothing more than someone to flirt with. Furthermore, I was unaware that she was entertaining guests.

“Why do you work from home on the days that she shows up for work? To make out? I insisted.

Sarah, not at all. Not initially. I wanted to be here while she worked since I knew you were hesitant to have a stranger in our house. However, it evolved into something a bit more,” he said, running his fingers through his hair.

“So what?” he enquired.

I said, “We report her.”

I went down to the agency the next day and reported Vanessa. Thankfully, they acknowledged the betrayal of confidence and professionalism and handled our issue with diligence.

Vanessa’s employment with the agency ended, and she was cut off from our house.

Following the entire incident, John and I reduced our work hours. We came to the conclusion that spending time together and mending our relationship’s fissures was the only way to get it back together.

I made a promise to myself that I would leave if I even suspected adultery, but eventually I came to the conclusion that I didn’t want to face life without John.

We’re determined to come out stronger, so we’re starting therapy soon.

Do you have any comparable tales?