Hitchcock heroine Kim Novak to receive Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion award
ROME – Hollywood actress Kim Novak, 92, best known for portraying the double life of Alfred Hitchcock's heroine in Vertigo (1958), has been awarded Venice's lifetime achievement award, the film festival said on June 9.
Despite a short-lived career, Novak became 'a living legend, earning her rightful place in history, with the respect and esteem of the film critics and industry alike', the festival added.
Novak said she was 'deeply, deeply touched' to receive the award, which will be presented during the festival, which runs from Aug 27 to Sept 6.
'To be recognised for my body of work at this time in my life is a dream come true. I will treasure every moment I spend in Venice. It will fill my heart with joy,' she said in a statement.
Novak played the chilling dual role of suicidal blonde Madeleine Elster and brunette shop girl Judy Barton in Vertigo, which was released in 1958.
Other memorable roles included a witch in Richard Quine's Bell, Book And Candle (1958); an adulteress in another Quine film, Strangers When We Meet (1960); and a prostitute with a big heart in Kiss Me, Stupid (1964) by Billy Wilder.
In 1965, she largely turned her back on Hollywood, refusing to accept the iron-fisted rule of studio executives, and turned to painting instead.
The festival's artistic director Alberto Barbera said that Novak had not planned on becoming an actress, but 'inadvertently' became a screen legend.
She 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', he said.
'Independent and non-conformist, 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,' he added.
The award 'celebrates a star who was emancipated, a rebel at the heart of Hollywood who illuminated the dreams of movie lovers', Barbera said.
The documentary Kim Novak's Vertigo (2025) by Alexandre Philippe, made in collaboration with the actress, will have its world premiere screening during the festival. AFP
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