The Venice Film Festival has announced it will honour legendary Vertigo star Kim Novak with a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.
Novak, 92, was the world’s top box office star during the late ‘50s and early ‘60s thanks to classics such as Joshua Logan’s Picnic (1955), Otto Preminger’s The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), and Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958) in which she played the dual role of suicidal blonde Madeleine Elster and brunette shop girl Judy Barton.
In 2012, Vertigo was named the “greatest film of all time” by the British Film Institute’s Sight and Sound, dethroning Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane – which held the number 1 spot for 50 years. The film came in second place in the 2022 edition of the poll.
Other memorable roles included her work in Kiss Me, Stupid by Billy Wilder (1964), Bell, Book and Candle by Richard Quine (1958) and Strangers When We Meet, also directed by Quine (1960).
Festival organizers said today that they will also host the world premiere of Alexandre Philippe’s documentary Kim Novak’s Vertigo, which was made in collaboration with the actress.
Alberto Barbera, the festival’s artistic director, said that the award, “celebrates a star who was emancipated, a rebel at the heart of Hollywood who illuminated the dreams of movie lovers before retiring to her ranch in Oregon to dedicate herself to painting and to her horses.”
“Inadvertently becoming a screen legend, Kim Novak was one of the most beloved icons of an entire era of Hollywood films, from her auspicious debut during the mid-1950s until her premature and voluntary exile from the gilded cage of Los Angeles a short while later,” added Barbera.
“She never refrained from criticizing the studio system, choosing her roles, who she let into her private life and even her name. Forced to renounce her given name, Marilyn Pauline, because it was associated with Monroe, she fought to conserve her last name, agreeing, in exchange, to dye her hair that shade of platinum blonde which set her apart. Independent and nonconformist, she created her own production company and went on strike to renegotiate a salary that was much lower than that of her male co-stars.”
Novak left her Hollywood career behind on her own terms in 1966 and turned to painting instead. She has occasionally granted interviews around significant film anniversaries.
After presenting at the 2014 Oscars, many online – including Donald Trump – insulted her appearance. “Kim should sue her plastic surgeon!” wrote Trump on X.
Novak responded with an open letter writing: “I will no longer hold myself back from speaking out against bullies.”
“In my opinion, a person has a right to look as good as they can, and I feel better when I look better,” she wrote in a Facebook post, adding: “We need to stand up to them (bullies) in a healthy way by speaking out, working out and acting out. I am speaking out now because I don’t want to harbour unhealthy feelings inside me anymore.”
Of this latest honour, Novak said she is “deeply touched” to receive the award.
“To be recognized for my body of work at this time in my life is a dream come true,” Novak said. “I will treasure every moment I spend in Venice. It will fill my heart with joy.”
This year’s Venice Film Festival will also honour iconoclastic German director Werner Herzog with a lifetime achievement award.
The 82nd Venice Film Festival runs from 27 August through 6 September. The full slate of films selected won’t be announced until late July.
