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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
February 14, 1898
Died
April 17, 1988
Place of Birth
Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
Also Known As
- Eva Barbara Novak
Eva Novak
2.3 Popularity
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
5.1
Mrs. Simms
Wild Seed
1965
7.8
Mrs. Hayes
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1962
7.8
Townswoman (uncredited)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
1962
7.1
Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Sergeant Rutledge
1960
4.0
Mrs. Munn (uncredited)
Duel at Apache Wells
1957
5.6
Mrs. Henderson (uncredited)
Tall Man Riding
1955
8.3
Courtier (uncredited)
Sunset Boulevard
1950
5.8
Jail Matron
The Blonde Bandit
1949
6.1
Hellfire
1949
6.7
Townswoman (uncredited)
3 Godfathers
1948
Credits
Wild Seed
as Mrs. Simms
1965
5.1
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
as Mrs. Hayes
1962
7.8
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
as Townswoman (uncredited)
1962
7.8
Sergeant Rutledge
as Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
1960
7.1
Duel at Apache Wells
as Mrs. Munn (uncredited)
1957
4.0
Tall Man Riding
as Mrs. Henderson (uncredited)
1955
5.6
Sunset Boulevard
as Courtier (uncredited)
1950
8.3
The Blonde Bandit
as Jail Matron
1949
5.8
Hellfire
1949
6.1
3 Godfathers
as Townswoman (uncredited)
1948
6.7
Four Faces West
as Mrs. Winston
1948
5.6
I, Jane Doe
as Jury Woman
1948
6.1
Blackmail
as Mamie, the Maid
1947
3.9
Robin Hood Of Texas
as Guest
1947
0.0
That Brennan Girl
as Miss Novak - Elderly Woman (uncredited)
1946
5.1
The Bells of St. Mary's
as Nun (uncredited)
1945
6.8
Apology for Murder
as Maid
1945
4.6
The Fatal Witness
as Elsie - Vera's Maid (uncredited)
1945
5.8
Phantom of the Desert
as Mary Van Horn
1930
0.0
The Medicine Man
as Hilda
1930
4.6
🎬
The Romance of Runnibede
as Dorothy Winchester
1928
0.0
For the Term of His Natural Life
as Sylvia Vickers
1927
6.0
Red Signals
as Mark Bryson
1927
0.0
30 Below Zero
as Ann Ralston
1926
0.0
No Man's Gold
as Jane Rogers
1926
0.0
The Dixie Flyer
as Rose Rapley / Rose Jones
1926
0.0
Say It with Babies
1926
5.0
Irene
as Eleanor Hadley
1926
3.8
The Northern Code
as Marie La Fane
1925
0.0
Sally
as Rosie Lafferty
1925
0.0
The Triflers
as Beatrice Noyes
1924
0.0
Laughing at Danger
as Carolyn Hollister
1924
6.2
Women First
as Jennie Doon
1924
0.0
🎬
The Beautiful Sinner
as Alice Carter
1924
0.0
The Fatal Mistake
as Ethel Bennett
1924
0.0
Racing for Life
as Grace Danton
1924
0.0
The Battling Fool
as Helen Chadwick
1924
0.0
The Man Life Passed By
as Joy Moore
1923
1.0
Boston Blackie
as Mary Carter
1923
6.0
The Tiger's Claw
as Harriet Halehurst
1923
0.0
Temptation
as Marjorie Baldwin
1923
1.0
🎬
Making a Man
as Patricia Owens
1922
0.0
The Great Night
as Mollie Martin
1922
0.0
The Man Who Saw Tomorrow
as Vonia
1922
0.0
The Man from Hell's River
as Mabella
1922
0.0
Up and Going
as Jackie McNabb
1922
0.0
Chasing the Moon
as Jane Norworth
1922
0.0
Sky High
as Estelle Halloway - his ward
1922
5.4
Trailin'
as Sally Fortune
1921
4.5
The Last Trail
as Winifred Samson
1921
0.0
The Rough Diamond
as Gloria Gómez
1921
0.0
Wolves of the North
as Aurora Norris
1921
0.0
The Smart Sex
as Rose
1921
0.0
Society Secrets
as Louise
1921
0.0
O'Malley of the Mounted
as Rose Lanier
1921
0.0
The Torrent
as Velma Patton
1921
2.0
The Testing Block
as Nelly Gray
1920
5.0
Wanted at Headquarters
1920
0.0
🎬
Up in Mary's Attic
as Mary
1920
0.0
Desert Love
as Dolly Remington
1920
0.0
The Daredevil
as Alice Spencer
1920
0.0
Silk Husbands and Calico Wives
as Georgia Wilson
1920
0.0
The Feud
as Betty Summers / Betty Brown
1919
0.0
The Speed Maniac
as Pearl Matthews
1919
0.0
🎬
All Jazzed Up
as Dainty Dotty
1919
0.0
🎬
The King of the Kitchen
as Her niece
1918
5.0
The Belles of Liberty
as Trixie
1918
0.0
A Blind Pig
as The Sheriff's Daughter
1918
0.0