American actress Kim Novak celebrated her 88th birthday on February 13, 2021. She is pictured here in costume for the 1964 movie Of Human Bondage, which is based on W. Somerset Maugham‘s 1915 novel of the same title. Novak has spent the latter part of her life as an artist and activist and will be releasing a book of her art this year.

Novak is widely known for her role in Alfred Hitchcock‘s masterpiece Vertigo and had made a stand for better pay in 1960s Hollywood. The story goes, Novak was striking for more money from Columbia Pictures, and refused to show up for work on the Vertigo set, to protest her salary of $1,250 a week. Novak hired new agents to represent her and demanded an adjustment in her contract. Head of Columbia, Harry Cohn, who was paid $250,000 for Novak to do Vertigo, suspended her, but after a few weeks of negotiations, he relented and offered her a new contract worthy of a major star. She was now receiving $3,000 a week and explained to the press, “I don’t like to have anyone take advantage of me.” Read more (Wikipedia).