Known For
Acting
Born
Feb 14, 1898
Died
Apr 17, 1988
Place of Birth
Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
Credits
72 titles
Eva Novak
Biography
Eva Barbara Novak (February 14, 1898 – April 17, 1988) was an American film actress, who was quite popular during the silent film era. On February 14, 1898, Eva Barbara Novak was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Joseph Jerome Novak, an immigrant from Bohemia, and Barbara Medek. Her older sister, Johana, also became an actress. Joseph Novak died when Eva was still a child and Barbara was left to raise five children. 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 would have 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 (1930) 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 moved to Australia, where she made numerous films, including The Romance of Runnibede. However, with the advent of "talking films", her popularity faded. She would continue to act, but mostly in obscure roles. 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.
Known For
Filmography
Wild Seed
Mrs. Simms
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
Mrs. Hayes
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Townswoman (uncredited)
Sergeant Rutledge
Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Duel at Apache Wells
Mrs. Munn (uncredited)
Tall Man Riding
Mrs. Henderson (uncredited)
Sunset Boulevard
Courtier (uncredited)
The Blonde Bandit
Jail Matron
Hellfire
Indian Woman (uncredited)
3 Godfathers
Townswoman (uncredited)
Four Faces West
Mrs. Winston
I, Jane Doe
Jury Woman
Blackmail
Mamie, the Maid
Robin Hood Of Texas
Guest
That Brennan Girl
Miss Novak - Elderly Woman (uncredited)
The Bells of St. Mary's
Nun (uncredited)
Apology for Murder
Maid
The Fatal Witness
Elsie - Vera's Maid (uncredited)
Phantom of the Desert
Mary Van Horn
The Medicine Man
Hilda
The Romance of Runnibede
Dorothy Winchester
For the Term of His Natural Life
Sylvia Vickers
Red Signals
Mark Bryson
30 Below Zero
Ann Ralston
No Man's Gold
Jane Rogers
The Dixie Flyer
Rose Rapley / Rose Jones
Say It with Babies
Irene
Eleanor Hadley
The Northern Code
Marie La Fane
Sally
Rosie Lafferty
The Triflers
Beatrice Noyes
Laughing at Danger
Carolyn Hollister
Women First
Jennie Doon
The Beautiful Sinner
Alice Carter
The Fatal Mistake
Ethel Bennett
Racing for Life
Grace Danton
The Battling Fool
Helen Chadwick
Listen Lester
Mary Dodge
The Man Life Passed By
Joy Moore
Boston Blackie
Mary Carter
The Tiger's Claw
Harriet Halehurst
Temptation
Marjorie Baldwin
Dollar Devils
Amy Andrews
Making a Man
Patricia Owens
The Great Night
Mollie Martin
The Man Who Saw Tomorrow
Vonia
The Man from Hell's River
Mabella
Up and Going
Jackie McNabb
Chasing the Moon
Jane Norworth
Sky High
Estelle Halloway - his ward