
Acting
Eva Novak
Born 1898-02-14 · Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
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.
Acting credits
8.3A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.
Sunset Boulevard
1950
7.8Questions arise when Senator Stoddard attends the funeral of a local man named Tom Doniphon in a small Western town. Flashing back, we learn Doniphon saved Stoddard, then a lawyer, when he was roughed up by a crew of outlaws terrorizing the town, led by Liberty Valance. As the territory's safety hung in the balance, Doniphon and Stoddard, two of the only people standing up to him, proved to be very important, but different, foes to Valance.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
1962
6.8Three outlaws on the run discover a dying woman and her baby. They swear to bring the infant to safety across the desert, even at the risk of their own lives.
3 Godfathers
1948
10.0When oil is discovered just outside a small New England town, the residents go wild at the prospect of newfound wealth, and they invest their money with the head of the venture, a young man named Bruce Merlin.
Dollar Devils
1923
7.0Respected black cavalry Sergeant Brax Rutledge stands court-martial for raping and killing a white woman and murdering her father, his superior officer.
Sergeant Rutledge
1960
6.8Father O'Malley is sent to St. Mary's, a run-down parochial school on the verge of condemnation. He and Sister Benedict work together in an attempt to save the school, though their differing methods often lead to good-natured disagreements.
The Bells of St. Mary's
1945
8.0Murderous bandits shoot up a town and kill the sheriff. But before he dies, the lawman leaves behind a list of the men responsible for his murder. Twenty-five years later, his son, Buck Marston has grown up and followed in his father's footsteps by becoming a sheriff.
Desert Love
1920
Dorothy Winchester finishes four years of school and returns home to North Queensland where her father has a large station. She is kidnapped by a tribe of local aboriginals who believe she is the reincarnation of a queen. She is pursued by two men who love her: Tom Linton, a stockman on her father's property, and Sub-Inspector Dale, a mounted policeman. One of the men gives his life to save Dorothy.
The Romance of Runnibede
1928
7.0Billy Porter sells his ranch and travels to San Francisco to try his hand in the business world. But he's barely off the ferryboat before he gets waylaid by a little newsboy and the boy's pugilist father, "Knockout" McClusky.
The Speed Maniac
1919
5.8Still seeking revenge against ranch owner Tuck Ordway for publicly whipping him years earlier and breaking up his relationship with Ordway's daughter, cowboy Larry Madden plans to oust Ordway from his ranch by having his claim to the land declared invalid. Ordway's daughter Corinna, believing Madden to be the cause of the family's recent misfortunes, is unaware that the local saloon owner also has designs upon the Ordway holdings.
Tall Man Riding
1955
8.0Amos Kerran and his wife live a traditional, old-fashioned life on a Connecticut farm, while their son and daughter, Arthur and Maybelle, are successes in New York society. The children want to invite their parents to the city at Christmastime but are ashamed of their unrefined appearance.
Society Secrets
1921
5.0Widower Colonel Dodge enjoys being single, but when Arbutus Quilty, his former sweetheart, threatens to sue him for breach of promise, he decides its time for him and his daughter Mary to take themselves a little vacation trip to Florida.
Listen Lester
1924
7.0Directed by B. Reeves Eason. With William Fairbanks, Eva Novak, Lydia Knott, Bob Rhodes.
Women First
1924
5.8Cowboy Ross McEwen arrives in town. He asks the banker for a loan of $2000. When the banker asks about securing a loan that large, McEwen shows him his six-gun collateral. The banker hands over the money in exchange for an I.O.U., signed "Jefferson Davis". McEwen rides out of town and catches a train, but not before being bitten by a rattler. On the train, a nurse, Miss Hollister, tends to his wound. A posse searches the train, but McEwen manages to escape notice. However a mysterious Mexican has taken note of the cowboy, and that loudmouthed brat is still nosing around. Who will be the first to claim the reward for the robber's capture?
Four Faces West
1948
5.5Raised by Natalie Brennan, a flamboyant and irresponsible mother, Ziggy Brennan gets involved in hustling men at a young age. She hangs around with a wild crowd and learns gets her "street smarts" first from her mother, who wants everyone to think they are sisters, and then from Denny Reagan, an older man. He starts teaching her his tricks of the trade and she falls right in line with his crooked ways. Then one night she meets Martin J. 'Mart' Neilson, a tall, handsome, honest farmer boy who's a sailor and they fall in love. While he's away fighting the war, she discovers she's pregnant.
That Brennan Girl
1946
6.4While stationed in France during World War II, an American fighter pilot marries a French girl but leaves her behind when he returns to the U.S. The French woman follows him to America only to discover he’s already married to a successful lawyer.
I, Jane Doe
1948
6.0A young man returns home after several years absence to find that a gang is after not only his family ranch, but his girlfriend as well.
Duel at Apache Wells
1957
4.8The son and daughter of an abusive shopkeeper turn to a medicine show salesman for help.
The Medicine Man
1930
6.4Zeb Smith is a gambler with a larcenous streak, but when an itinerant preacher takes a bullet meant for him, Zeb vows to fulfill the preacher's mission of building a church. Frustrated in his attempts to get donations, Zeb attempts to capture fugitive Doll Brown in order to obtain the reward. But he finds that there's more to Doll than meets the eye. When his old friend Bucky McLean shows up gunning for Doll, Zeb sees a chance to redeem them all... one way or another.
Hellfire
1949
7.0Rose, a stranded showgirl, participates in a local amateur show and wins the prize. After the performance, she meets a wealthy young man who buys her supper, gets her accommodation on a farm adjoining his father's estate, and turns farmhand to win her love.
The Smart Sex
1921
9.0Aurora, daughter of Professor Norris, a student of Eskimo culture in the region of Unalik on the southeast coast of Alaska, is devoted to David, a youth of weak character who has been reared in the family, and she is aloof to other men. "Wiki" Jack, primitive and passionate, sets out to win her despite her unconcealed disdain for him.
Wolves of the North
1921
8.0When drunken Canadian trapper Raoul La Fane attacks his young wife Marie, she takes a shot at him. La Fane falls, and Marie, thinking she killed him, flees into the white wilderness. Years later her secret comes back to haunt her.
The Northern Code
1925
4.9Head over heels in love with a stern and cold older businessman's young wife, a reporter is seduced into conspiring to murder him so she can inherit his estate, while pinning the murder on another businessman.
Apology for Murder
1945
4.5Irene, a feisty Irish girl in Philadelphia, clashes with her family and walks out, heading to New York City to seek fame and fortune. She gets a job as a dressmaker's model and becomes involved with Donald, the scion of a wealthy family. Donald's mother doesn't approve of Irene and sets out to discredit her in Donald's eyes.
Irene
1926