Kim Novak Is Turning 90, and She’s Sharing How She Wants to Be Remembered

The icon who starred in classics, such as Vertigo, turned 90 years old, and on this occasion, she gave a candid interview about the surprising way she leads her life and the legacy she’ll leave behind. We can’t stop admiring how fascinating Kim Novak is, and we’d like to celebrate this incredible milestone with her.

She turned her back to stardom.

Over 5 decades ago, the actress made the groundbreaking decision to walk away from Hollywood and turned to the 2 passions that really mattered to her: art and animals.

She preferred to lead a calmer and more artistic life by moving to the North, where she lived in a house by the sea with her husband of 44 years, who passed away in 2020. She had noted that she ’’had to leave to survive.’’ The legend explained, ’’I lost a sense of who I truly was and what I stood for.’’

The Hitchcock star explained that she believes her style of acting wasn’t really understood back in the ’50s, and her acting was appreciated more as time passed.

She noted that back then, actors tended to ’’overact,’’ but she said, ’’I just was expressing myself as I always do, honestly and truthfully.’’ Novak added, ’’I think that the style is more appreciated, and so my life has grown richer the longer I’ve been around on this earth.’’

She’s much more than an actress.

3 years ago, as she turned 87, Novak opened up about her legacy, and she noted that she prefers to be remembered as an artist rather than an actress.

’’People can remember me in movies, but I want them to see me as an artist,’’ she shared. ’’This is who I am. I want people to see I was not just a movie star.’’

Novak, who had made an exhibition of her artwork in 2019, revealed that what she loves most about painting is the fact that she can be in charge of the whole process.

She explained, ’’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.’’

Her ninetieth milestone celebration

As for her ninetieth birthday, the legend is planning a celebration that is totally true to who she is.
She plans to paint after waking up and work on her canvas while barefoot. She will then go riding with her horse named Poet.

She noted, ’’Poet is my love and I will have my 3 dogs beside us, and it’ll be perfect.’’

Her paintings depict her journey.

Novak, who will soon have a new art exhibition, believes that her art will tell her life story in the future.

“I feel I’ve been meant to stay around,” she noted, "When I’m gone it’s going to be fascinating for people to look at my art and figure out what I was saying about my experiences in Hollywood, in my childhood, and all of my life.’’

Having said that, Novak always prefers to live in the present without really bothering about the passage of years.

She shared, ’’I never wear a watch, so I have no sense of how time is passing, other than the fact that I’m productive and taking time to put down, in images, all the things I’ve experienced.’’