Eva Novak


Eva Novak was an American film actress, who was quite popular during the silent film era.

Biography

On February 14, 1898, Barbara Eva Novak was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Joseph Jerome Novak, an immigrant from Lišov, Bohemia, Austria and Barbara Medek, whose father was born in Kbel. She was baptized Catholic on the 17th at St. Wenceslaus. Joseph J Novak, an editor for the Hlas newspaper, froze on his way to Baden Station on 14 December 1901, after local weather reached -2 °F, a standing record for that day of the month. "Eva" was 3-years-old and Barbara was left to raise five children. Her older sister, Johana, also became an actress. Their older brother, Joseph, worked as head cameraman for Desilu.
Novak began her acting career in 1917 in L-KO's Roped into Scandal, followed by another seven films that same year. She appeared in 17 films in 1918, and another eight in 1919. In 1920, she starred opposite Tom Mix in The Daredevil, one of six film roles she took that year, and one of ten films in which she starred opposite Mix.
In 1921, she married stuntman William Reed, whom she met while on location for a film. They had two daughters Vivian Barbara and Pamela Eve.
Novak was interested in stunt performing herself, having been taught by Mix to perform many of her own stunts. From 1921 to 1928, she appeared in and starred in 48 films, including an early version of Boston Blackie. She also co-starred with Betty Bronson and Jack Benny in The Medicine Man and appeared in the 1922 film Chasing the Moon, which was an early forerunner of the 1950s film D.O.A. In the late 1920s, she and her husband worked in Australia, where she took the leading roles in two films, For the Term of His Natural Life and The Romance of Runnibede. However, with the advent of "talking films", her popularity faded. She continued to act, but mostly in obscure roles.
File:Eva Novak and Tom Mix in Sky High - selection - 1922.webm|thumb|right|270px|Eva Novak acting with Tom Mix in the 1922 film Sky High
She appeared in 123 films between 1917 and 1965, when she retired. She was residing in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles at the time of her death from pneumonia at the age of 90, on April 17, 1988.
In May 1923, the Altoona Tribune held a contest to find the girl who most closely resembled Novak. An announcement in the newspaper said that the winner would receive $250 worth of clothes from a store.

Selected filmography

  • The King of the Kitchen as Niece
  • The Freckled Fish
  • The Speed Maniac as Pearl Matthews
  • The Feud as Betty Brown / Betty Summers
  • Wanted at Headquarters as Kate Westhanger
  • The Daredevil as Alice Spencer
  • The Testing Block as Nelly Gray
  • Desert Love as Dolly Remington
  • Up in Mary's Attic as Mary
  • Silk Husbands and Calico Wives as Georgia Wilson
  • O'Malley of the Mounted as Rose Lanier
  • Trailin' as Sally Fortune
  • The Rough Diamond as Gloria Gomez
  • Society Secrets as Louise
  • The Smart Sex as Rose
  • The Torrent as Velma Patton
  • The Last Trail as Winifred Samson
  • Wolves of the North as Aurora Norris
  • The Man from Hell's River as Mabella
  • Sky High as Estelle Halloway
  • Chasing the Moon as Jane Norworth
  • The Man Who Saw Tomorrow as Vonia
  • Making a Man as Patricia Owens
  • Barriers of Folly as May Gordon
  • Up and Going as Jackie McNabb
  • The Great Night as Mollie Martin
  • The Tiger's Claw as Harriet Halehurst
  • A Noise in Newboro as Anne Paisley
  • The Man Life Passed By as Joy Moore
  • Boston Blackie as Mary Carter
  • Dollar Devils as Amy Andrews
  • Temptation as Marjorie Baldwin
  • Missing Daughters as Eva Rivers
  • Listen Lester as Mary Dodge
  • The Beautiful Sinner as Alice Carter
  • The Fatal Mistake as Ethel Bennett
  • Racing for Life as Grace Danton
  • A Fight for Honor as Margaret Hill
  • Lure of the Yukon as Sue McGraig
  • Tainted Money as Adams' Daughter
  • Women First as Jennie Doon
  • Laughing at Danger as Carolyn Hollister
  • The Triflers as Beatrice Noyes
  • Safeguarded
  • Battling Mason as Patsy
  • The Fearless Lover as Enid Sexton
  • Northern Code as Marie La Fane
  • Sally as Rosie Lafferty
  • Irene as Eleanor Hadley
  • Say It with Babies as Baby Man's Wife
  • The Millionaire Policeman as Mary Gray
  • The Dixie Flyer as Rose Jones / Rose Rapley
  • No Man's Gold as Jane Rogers
  • 30 Below Zero as Ann Ralston
  • Red Signals as Mary Callahan
  • Duty's Reward as Dorothy Thompson
  • For the Term of His Natural Life as Sylvia Vickers
  • The Romance of Runnibede
  • The Medicine Man as Hulda
  • The Phantom of the Desert as Mary Van Horn
  • Dangerous Intrigue as Nurse
  • Ride a Crooked Mile as Cashier
  • The Topeka Terror as Mrs. Green
  • Apology for Murder as Kirkland's Maid
  • Corpus Christi Bandits as Stage Passenger
  • Three's a Crowd as Matron
  • Claudia and David as Maid
  • Blackmail as Mamie
  • Four Faces West as Mrs. Winston
  • 3 Godfathers as Townswoman
  • Sunset Boulevard as Courtier
  • Havana Rose as Matron
  • Sergeant Rutledge as Courtroom Spectator
  • The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance as Townswoman
  • The Alfred Hitchcock Hour as Mrs. Hayes
  • Wild Seed as Mrs. Simms