Name
Eva Novak
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1898-02-14
Deathday
1988-04-17 (90 years old)
Place of Birth
Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
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
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A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent film star who has faded into H...
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Questions arise when Senator Stoddard attends the funeral of a local man named Tom Donipho...
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Three outlaws on the run discover a dying woman and her baby. They swear to bring the infa...
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Respected black cavalry Sergeant Brax Rutledge stands court-martial for raping and killing...
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Father O'Malley is sent to St. Mary's, a run-down parochial school on the verge of condemn...
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Cowboy Ross McEwen arrives in town. He asks the banker for a loan of $2000. When the banke...
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Still seeking revenge against ranch owner Tuck Ordway for publicly whipping him years earl...
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Raised by Natalie Brennan, a flamboyant and irresponsible mother, Ziggy Brennan gets invol...
- 1945 Apology for Murder as Maid
- 1922 Making a Man as Patricia Owens
- 1921 The Torrent as Velma Patton
- 1921 Wolves of the North as Aurora Norris
- 1919 The Speed Maniac as Pearl Matthews
- 1919 The Feud as Betty Summers / Betty Brown
- 1920 The Daredevil as Alice Spencer
- 1920 Desert Love as Dolly Remington
- 1922 Up and Going as Jackie McNabb
- 1922 Chasing the Moon as Jane Norworth
- 1930 Phantom of the Desert as Mary Van Horn
- 1920 Wanted at Headquarters
- 1924 The Beautiful Sinner as Alice Carter
- 1921 The Last Trail as Winifred Samson
- 1947 Blackmail as Mamie, the Maid
- 1926 30 Below Zero as Ann Ralston
- 1957 Duel at Apache Wells as Mrs. Munn (uncredited)
- 1955 Tall Man Riding as Mrs. Henderson (uncredited)
- 1949 Hellfire as Indian Woman (uncredited)
- 1922 Sky High as Estelle Halloway - his ward
- 1924 Racing for Life as Grace Danton
- 1927 For the Term of His Natural Life as Sylvia Vickers
- 1926 Say It with Babies
- 1923 Boston Blackie as Mary Carter
- 1922 The Man from Hell's River as Mabella
- 1930 The Medicine Man as Hilda
- 1960 Sergeant Rutledge as Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
- 1945 The Fatal Witness as Elsie - Vera's Maid (uncredited)
- 1918 The King of the Kitchen as Her niece
- 1946 That Brennan Girl as Miss Novak - Elderly Woman (uncredited)
- 1926 The Dixie Flyer as Rose Rapley / Rose Jones
- 1945 The Bells of St. Mary's as Nun (uncredited)
- 1948 Four Faces West as Mrs. Winston
- 1926 Irene as Eleanor Hadley
- 1918 A Blind Pig as The Sheriff's Daughter
- 1962 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance as Townswoman (uncredited)
- 1925 The Northern Code as Marie La Fane
- 1921 Trailin' as Sally Fortune
- 1950 Sunset Boulevard as Courtier (uncredited)
- 1948 I, Jane Doe as Jury Woman
- 1947 Robin Hood Of Texas as Guest
- 1919 All Jazzed Up as Dainty Dotty
- 1949 The Blonde Bandit as Jail Matron
- 1948 3 Godfathers as Townswoman (uncredited)
- 1920 The Testing Block as Nelly Gray
- 1923 Temptation as Marjorie Baldwin
- 1965 Wild Seed as Mrs. Simms
- 1926 No Man's Gold as Jane Rogers
- 1923 The Man Life Passed By as Joy Moore
- 1918 The Belles of Liberty as Trixie
- 1924 The Battling Fool as Helen Chadwick
- 1924 The Triflers as Beatrice Noyes
- 1920 Up in Mary's Attic as Mary
- 1921 O'Malley of the Mounted as Rose Lanier
- 1921 Society Secrets as Louise
- 1923 The Tiger's Claw as Harriet Halehurst
- 1921 The Rough Diamond as Gloria Gómez
- 1927 Red Signals as Mark Bryson
- 1924 Laughing at Danger as Carolyn Hollister
- 1921 The Smart Sex as Rose
- 1925 Sally as Rosie Lafferty
- 1922 The Great Night as Mollie Martin
- 1920 Silk Husbands and Calico Wives as Georgia Wilson
- 1922 The Man Who Saw Tomorrow as Vonia
- 1928 The Romance of Runnibede as Dorothy Winchester
- 1924 Women First as Jennie Doon
- 1924 The Fatal Mistake as Ethel Bennett
- 1924 Listen Lester as Mary Dodge
- 1917 The Sign of the Cucumber
- 1917 Hearts and Flour
- 1923 Dollar Devils as Amy Andrews
- 1962 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour ( 1 episode ) as Mrs. Hayes
