Marilyn Pauline "Kim" Malloy (née Novak; born February 13, 1933) is an American retired actress and painter. Her contributions to cinema have been honored with two Golden Globe Awards, an Honorary Golden Bear, a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Novak began her career in 1954 after signing a contract with Columbia Pictures, and quickly became one of Hollywood's top box office stars, appearing in Picnic (1955), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), and Pal Joey (1957). She gained prominence for her performance in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Vertigo (1958), which is recognized as one of the greatest films ever made. Other notable films include Bell, Book and Candle (1958), Strangers When We Meet (1960), and Kiss Me, Stupid (1964).

Although at the time still young, Novak withdrew from acting by 1966 and has worked only sporadically in films since. She appeared in The Mirror Crack'd (1980), and had a regular role on the primetime series Falcon Crest (1986–1987). After a disappointing experience during the filming of Liebestraum (1991), she retired from acting.

Marilyn Pauline Novak was born in Chicago, Illinois, on February 13, 1933. She is the second daughter of Joseph and Blanche (née Kral) Novak (who both appeared with her in the 1962 film The Notorious Landlady). Both of her parents were born in Chicago and of Czech descent. Joseph (1897–1987) was a history teacher who took a job as a freight dispatcher on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad during the Great Depression. Novak was raised Catholic.^{[failed verification]}

Novak attended William Penn Elementary, Farragut High School, and Wright Junior College. She won two scholarships to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

During the summer break in her last semester of junior college, Novak went on a cross-country tour as a promotional model for Detroit Motor Products Corporation's Deepfreeze home freezer at trade shows. Novak was pronounced "Miss Deepfreeze".

In San Francisco, after the refrigerator company tour ended, Novak and two other models decided to travel to Los Angeles, to check out the film industry. In Los Angeles, the three, with her as Marilyn Novak, were extras in Son of Sinbad (filmed in 1953, released in 1955), and later, for The French Line (1953), starring Jane Russell at RKO. In Los Angeles, Novak was discovered by an agent, who signed her to a long-term contract with Columbia Pictures. From the beginning of her career, she wanted to be an original and not another stereotype. Therefore, Novak fought with Columbia's CEO, Harry Cohn, over the changing of her name. Cohn suggested the name "Kit Marlowe", arguing, "Nobody's gonna go see a girl with a Polack name!", but Novak insisted on keeping her name, saying, "I'm Czech, but Polish, Czech, no matter, it's my name!" They eventually settled on the name "Kim Novak" as a compromise.

Columbia intended for Novak to be their successor to Rita Hayworth, their biggest star of the 1940s, whose career had declined; also, the studio was hopeful that Novak would bring them the same box-office success Marilyn Monroe brought 20th Century-Fox. Novak's first role for the studio was in the film noir Pushover (1954), in which she received third billing below Fred MacMurray and Philip Carey. She then co-starred in the romantic comedy Phffft (1954) as Janis, a character who finds Robert Tracey (Jack Lemmon) "real cute". Both films were reasonably successful at the box office, and Novak received favorable reviews for her performances. In her third feature film, 5 Against the House (1955), a gritty crime drama, she received second billing after Guy Madison but above Brian Keith, all three above the title. It was only a minor critical and box-office success.