If you’ve recently seen the stunning footage of a platinum-blonde legend receiving a standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival or caught a glimpse of a new documentary about a Hollywood rebel, you’re probably asking yourself one thing. How old is Kim Novak right now?
Honestly, the answer is kind of mind-blowing.
As of right now, in early 2026, Kim Novak is 92 years old. She will celebrate her 93rd birthday on February 13, 2026.
It’s wild to think about. This is the woman who starred in Vertigo—frequently cited as the greatest film ever made—nearly 70 years ago. While most of her contemporaries from the Golden Age of Hollywood have long since passed, Novak isn't just "still around." She’s actually having a bit of a massive cultural moment.
Why Everyone is Talking About Kim Novak’s Age
People aren't just Googling her age because they're curious about a number. There’s been a huge resurgence in her popularity lately. Just this past year, in late 2025, she made a rare, high-profile appearance at the Venice Film Festival to accept the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.
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Seeing her on that stage, dressed in a dramatic white gown, was a total "moment." She looked elegant, sure, but she also looked like someone who had survived the meat grinder of the old studio system and came out on top.
A lot of the buzz is also coming from a new documentary called Kim Novak’s Vertigo. It premiered recently and it’s basically Kim finally telling her side of the story. No PR polish. No studio-approved scripts. Just Kim, at 92, talking about the "disasters" of her childhood and how she fought to keep her soul while Hollywood tried to turn her into a commodity.
The Math: A Quick Look at the Timeline
To put her age into perspective, let’s look at when the "Marilyn" from Chicago actually became Kim:
- Born: February 13, 1933, as Marilyn Pauline Novak.
- Breakthrough: She was only 21 when she starred in Pushover (1954).
- The Peak: She was 25 when she filmed Vertigo (1958).
- The Exit: She basically walked away from the industry in her early 30s.
- Today (2026): She is 92, turning 93 next month.
The Secret Life in Oregon
You might wonder why she’s so "mysterious" compared to other legends. Well, she basically pulled a Greta Garbo, but with more animals and paint.
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For decades, Novak has lived a quiet, rural life in Oregon. She spent 44 years married to a veterinarian, Robert Malloy, until his passing in 2020. Since then, she’s stayed tucked away on her ranch, surrounded by horses and llamas.
She’s often said that "painting saved her life." When Hollywood got too cruel—and let’s be real, the industry was brutal to her—she traded the cameras for a paintbrush. If you look at her art today, it’s vibrant, surreal, and honestly pretty intense. It’s not the "hobby" art of a bored celebrity; it’s the work of a serious artist who has been doing this since she attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago as a teenager.
What People Often Get Wrong
There's a lot of misinformation floating around about her. Some people think she "faded away" because she couldn't get work. That’s just not true.
Novak was the number one box office star in the world for three years straight in the late 50s. She chose to leave. She hated how Harry Cohn, the head of Columbia Pictures, controlled every aspect of her life. He even called her "the fat Polack" (her family is of Czech descent) and tried to force her to change her name to Kit Marlowe.
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She fought him. She kept the name Novak. She even started her own production company—one of the first women to ever do so.
Dealing with the "Pretty" Burden
One of the most moving things she said recently in her documentary was, "I don't have to be the pretty one now." She’s been very open about the pain of aging in the public eye. Remember the 2014 Oscars? She presented an award, and the internet was incredibly cruel about her appearance (she’d had some cosmetic procedures). Even Donald Trump tweeted something mean about her.
It devastated her at the time. But at 92, she seems to have moved past it. She’s focused on her legacy as a "fighter for women" and as an artist. She’s dealt with bipolar disorder for years and uses her platform now to talk about mental health, which is pretty brave for someone of her generation.
Key Takeaways and Next Steps
So, if you’re looking to dive deeper into the world of this 92-year-old icon, here’s what you should actually do:
- Watch the new documentary: Kim Novak's Vertigo is the most honest look you'll ever get at her life. It’s making the rounds at festivals like Palm Springs right now.
- Revisit "Picnic" or "Bell, Book and Candle": Everyone talks about Vertigo, but her performance in Picnic with William Holden is where you really see that "natural beauty" the studios were so obsessed with.
- Check out her art: Visit her official site, kimnovakartist.com. It puts her entire career into a different context when you see what she was creating while she was "retired."
- Acknowledge the resilience: Realize that being a 92-year-old woman who told Hollywood "no" in the 1960s and survived to tell the tale is perhaps her greatest role of all.
Kim Novak isn't just a relic of the past; she's a living example of how to reclaim your identity after the world tries to steal it.
Next Steps for Enthusiasts:
If you want to see Kim in her prime, many streaming services are currently featuring Vertigo in 4K. It’s worth a re-watch just to see the nuance she brought to a role that essentially mirrored her own life—a woman being forced to dress and act like someone she wasn't.