But by the late 1960s, frustrated with the roles she was being offered and uncomfortable with the machinery of fame, she largely abandoned acting and moved to Big Sur after mudslides destroyed her Bel Air home.
Painting and poetry increasingly replaced movies, we can reveal.
When asked in a new interview about the greatest fulfilment in her life, Novak said: “Without question, being able to paint, being able to express myself. It is such a luxury, and it’s something that if more people could do it, they would find in their lives feeling more fulfilled.”
For Novak, painting offered something Hollywood increasingly could not – complete creative control and the freedom to follow her own instincts without having to inhabit characters she did not believe in.
She added in her chat with The Age: “There is no comparison. Because when you’re painting, you’re the director, the producer, and the actor. You’re everything. And it’s me listening to my voice, listening to my interpretation. I didn’t respond well to (badly written roles) because I needed to believe it in order to be it. And in my art, I’m able to.”