Novak’s animal sanctuary

Kim Novak has no regrets about quitting the movie business, said Richard Rushfield in The Daily Telegraph (U.K.). The screen siren said goodbye to Hollywood in 1965 after being stung by a series of bad parts and negative reviews, including the hostile response to her performance in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 film Vertigo. “Those things hurt,” says Novak, 81. “I always have been vulnerable, and I always wanted to stay vulnerable because that’s what makes you enjoy life too.” She headed north, and now lives on a ranch in Oregon with her husband of 36 years—retired veterinarian Robert Malloy—five horses, and a herd of llamas. “When Bob and I were dating, I had one llama, and whenever we’d walk around, [the llama] would walk between us. Bob said, ‘You’ve got to get rid of that thing!’ And I told him, ‘You’re bringing two kids into the relationship. I get to bring one llama.’ So he said, ‘Alright, we better get another one.’” Animals, she says, are far more reliable than many of the people she encountered in Hollywood. “Especially goats. If they don’t think you’re being honest, they’ll butt you. Llamas will spit at you. Or let you touch them if you’re being honest. They’ll rub up against you. That’s such a rewarding thing, and that to me is worth everything.”

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