Mel Novak

Mel Novak (born Milan Mrdjenovich; June 16, 1934 – April 9, 2025) was an American character actor best known for his imposing portrayals of villains in martial arts and action films of the 1970s and 1980s.^[1][2] Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Serbian immigrant parents, Novak excelled as an athlete in his youth, earning 60 college football scholarship offers and signing a professional baseball contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates before a rotator cuff injury ended his sports career.^[3][4] He transitioned to acting in the early 1970s, making his film debut in 1974 and ultimately appearing in over 70 feature films and numerous television shows, often performing his own stunts as a martial artist and former athlete standing at 6 feet 2 inches tall.^[2][3] Novak gained cult status for his menacing screen presence, with standout roles including the sniper Stick in Bruce Lee's Game of Death (1978), the gangster Blue Eyes in Jim Kelly's Black Belt Jones (1974), and the gatekeeper in Chuck Norris's An Eye for an Eye (1981).^[5][3] He also collaborated with prominent stars such as Yul Brynner in The Ultimate Warrior (1975), Steve McQueen in Tom Horn (1980), and Christopher Lee in various projects, while guest-starring on television series like Mannix, The F.B.I., and Baretta.^[3][6] His career extended into the 2010s with appearances in low-budget films such as Syndicate Smasher (2017), Nemesis 5: The New Model (2017), and Arachnado (2019).^[2] Beyond acting, Novak was an ordained minister and dedicated humanitarian who spent over 38 years ministering to the homeless on Los Angeles' Skid Row and 37 years working with prisoners, claiming to have led more than 750,000 people to faith through his efforts.^[3] He volunteered with the Special Olympics for decades, survived 28 surgeries and a 2010 prostate cancer diagnosis, and was inducted into multiple martial arts halls of fame as well as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.^[2][3] Novak was previously married to Vera Novak, with whom he had two children, and he passed away from natural causes in Granada Hills, California.^[1][2]

Early life

Family and heritage

Mel Novak was born Milan Mrdjenovich on June 16, 1934, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.^[5][1] His parents were Serbian immigrants who had settled in the Pittsburgh area, instilling in him a strong connection to his ethnic roots from an early age.^[7][5] Novak's Serbian heritage played a notable role in shaping his identity, as reflected in his original surname, Mrdjenovich (Serbian: Мрђеновић), which he later simplified for his professional career due to its challenging pronunciation for English speakers.^[6] Growing up in a working-class immigrant household near Pittsburgh, he was exposed to traditional Serbian cultural elements, though specific family practices or parental occupations remain undocumented in available records. No siblings are mentioned in biographical accounts of his early life. The family's relocation to the Wilmerding area, where Novak attended high school, underscored the modest, community-oriented dynamics of their Pittsburgh suburb existence, providing a foundational backdrop for his later pursuits.^[6] This heritage informed his transition to the stage name Mel Novak in adulthood.

Pre-acting pursuits

Before entering the entertainment industry, Mel Novak pursued a career in professional sports, leveraging his athletic prowess developed during high school in Pennsylvania. An standout multisport athlete, he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and track, earning 60 scholarship offers for football from major universities and 16 for basketball.^[5] Despite these opportunities, Novak opted to sign a professional baseball contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization in the 1950s, forgoing college to play for his hometown team.^[5][1] Novak's baseball aspirations were derailed by a severe rotator cuff injury sustained during play, which necessitated surgery and left him functionally impaired for approximately seven years, effectively ending his professional athletic career.^[5][7] During this recovery period in the 1960s, he focused on rehabilitation and explored other professional avenues, drawing on his physical background for non-athletic pursuits. In his late 30s, around the late 1960s, Novak relocated from Pennsylvania to Los Angeles, California, seeking new opportunities after his sports career concluded.^[5] To support himself financially, he secured employment as a bodily injury claims adjuster at an insurance company, a role that provided stability while allowing flexibility for side endeavors.^[5] Concurrently, he entered the modeling industry, working in runway shows and magazine advertisements for several years, which highlighted his tall, imposing physique—standing at 6 feet 2 inches—and introduced him to creative fields.^[5] This period marked his initial foray into performance arts, as a modeling agent recognized his potential and recommended acting classes, building on minor experiences with school and local theater plays from his youth.^[8]

Acting career

1970s debut and breakthrough

Novak entered the film industry in 1974 with small roles in two blaxploitation action films, marking his debut as an actor. In Truck Turner, directed by Jonathan Kaplan and starring Isaac Hayes as a bounty hunter, Novak portrayed a doctor in a supporting capacity.^[9] That same year, he appeared as Blue Eyes, a gangster henchman, in Black Belt Jones, a martial arts vehicle for Jim Kelly produced by Fred Weintraub and directed by Robert Clouse, where his character was involved in mob-related conflicts over a community center. These early appearances showcased Novak's emerging screen presence in low-budget, high-energy genre cinema. His breakthrough came in 1978 with the role of Stick the Assassin in Game of Death, Bruce Lee's posthumously released martial arts epic assembled from unfinished footage shot before Lee's 1973 death, with additional scenes directed by Clouse. Novak's character, a cold-blooded sniper working for a crime boss (played by Dean Jagger), infiltrates a film set disguised as a stuntman to assassinate the protagonist, leading to intense confrontations including a climactic fight sequence with Lee. Filming for Novak's portions took place over seven weeks in Hong Kong, where he performed his own stunts, contributing to the film's gritty authenticity despite production challenges from piecing together disparate footage.^[5] This role significantly elevated Novak's profile, cementing his reputation as a formidable villain in action films and attracting attention from fans of Lee's legacy. Throughout the 1970s, Novak supplemented his film work with stunt performances and minor television roles, building experience in the industry. He doubled as a stuntman in projects like The Ultimate Warrior (1975), a post-apocalyptic thriller starring Yul Brynner, where his athletic background from prior physical training enabled him to handle demanding action sequences without a professional double. On television, he guest-starred as Elmo Bagley, a hitman, in a 1973 episode of Mannix ("A Matter of Principle"), and as a policeman in a 1971 episode of The F.B.I. ("Unknown Victim"), appearances that honed his tough-guy persona in episodic crime dramas.^[10] These varied gigs facilitated his shift from obscurity to a recognized figure in B-movie circles, particularly valued for his willingness to execute his own stunts, which added realism to his antagonistic characters.^[6]

1980s–1990s villain roles

In the 1980s and 1990s, Mel Novak solidified his reputation as a quintessential action film villain, often portraying menacing enforcers and antagonists in low-to-mid-budget thrillers and martial arts pictures, where his imposing physical presence and intense screen demeanor made him a go-to choice for tough-guy adversaries.^[5] His roles during this period frequently involved high-stakes confrontations, emphasizing a recurring persona of ruthless criminals or shadowy figures who clashed with heroic leads, contributing to his typecasting in the genre.^[11] One of Novak's standout performances came in An Eye for an Eye (1981), where he played Tony Montoya, a brutal henchman in a drug trafficking ring led by the sophisticated Morgan Canfield (Christopher Lee). As Montoya, Novak's character serves as a key antagonist to undercover cop Sean Kane (Chuck Norris), culminating in a visceral hotel room fight scene that highlights Montoya's aggressive combat style and Kane's martial arts prowess; the sequence underscores Montoya's arc from a mid-level enforcer to a direct threat, ending in his defeat during an intense hand-to-hand brawl.^[12] This collaboration with Norris marked Novak's second on-screen matchup with the action star, following their earlier encounter, and exemplified his ability to embody cold-blooded villains in revenge-driven narratives.^[13] Novak continued his villainous streak in Lovely but Deadly (1981), portraying Warren Lang, a drug lord whose operation preys on high school students, including the protagonist's cheerleader peers. In the film, Lang's character arc revolves around his exploitation of vulnerable youth, leading to undercover confrontations that expose his operation's brutality; Novak's portrayal amplifies the tough-guy archetype through scenes of intimidation and chases, reinforcing the movie's anti-drug message. Later in the decade, he appeared as Tom Andrews in Family Reunion (1989), a troubled family patriarch haunted by cult-related nightmares during a Christmas vacation, where his possession-like influence drives the horror-thriller's tension and family conflicts. Andrews' role blends Novak's physical menace with psychological depth, as the character grapples with suppressed memories of a satanic massacre, ultimately confronting the evil forces tied to his past.^[14] Throughout these years, Novak's work evolved to incorporate increasingly demanding stunt sequences, as he performed his own fights and action beats without doubles, drawing on his martial arts background to execute realistic, high-impact choreography in films like Sword of Heaven (1985), where he played the antagonist Dirk opposite John Saxon.^[7] This hands-on approach not only heightened the authenticity of his villainous defeats but also allowed him to collaborate closely with stars like Norris and Saxon, solidifying his niche in 1980s–1990s action cinema while building on his earlier establishment as a formidable opponent in martial arts fare.^[11]

2000s–2020s later projects

In the 2000s, Novak continued his acting career with roles in independent films that echoed his earlier villainous personas, often blending action with horror elements. He portrayed the vampire hunter Gustoff Slovak in the 2005 direct-to-video film Vampire Assassin, directed by and starring Ron Hall, where he confronted undead threats alongside actors like Gerald Okamura and Rudy Ray Moore.^[15] That same year, Novak appeared as a guest on the entertainment news program Eye on Entertainment, interviewed by host Dawna Lee Heising at the opening of Per Bernal's Fine Art Studio, discussing his multifaceted career in acting and martial arts.^[16] Novak's recognition extended beyond acting in 2008 when he was inducted into the Martial Arts Hall of Fame in London, honoring his contributions to martial arts cinema and his black belt expertise in karate and other disciplines.^[17] This period marked a shift toward lower-budget independent productions, where Novak embraced cult-favorite roles that leveraged his imposing presence and typecasting as a menacing antagonist from his 1980s and 1990s work. Entering the 2010s, Novak took on prominent villain parts in genre films, including the role of Cutter, a ruthless enforcer, in the 2015 action-comedy Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance, a fan-funded sequel that reunited him with Okamura and celebrated B-movie aesthetics.^[18] In 2017, he joined the anthology horror film Tales of Frankenstein as the mad scientist Dr. Mortality, a character in a segment fusing classic monster tropes with modern indie storytelling; production wrapped that year in Los Angeles.^[19] Through 2020, Novak remained active in indie cinema, appearing in projects like Tales for the Campfire 3 (2020) as Dr. Challis, contributing to his enduring cult status among fans of low-budget action and horror for his reliable portrayals of authoritative, often sinister figures.^[20]

Ministry and philanthropy

Ordination and early involvement

Mel Novak was ordained as a non-denominational Christian minister in the early 1980s, following a profound personal calling to share the Gospel. His ordination stemmed from a divine inspiration during a visit to the Fred Jordan Mission on Los Angeles' Skid Row, where he witnessed the suffering of the homeless and felt compelled to provide spiritual and practical support.^[21][3] Novak's early involvement in ministry began around 1983, when he started conducting chapel services, Bible studies on spiritual warfare, and counseling sessions at Skid Row missions, including the Union Rescue Mission and Fred Jordan Mission. Balancing this commitment with his acting career, he integrated his faith into his schedule by ministering on weekends and during breaks from film projects, viewing his Hollywood experiences as part of a broader spiritual battle that deepened his resolve. Over the initial years, he distributed Bibles from his car trunk and prayed for individuals struggling with addiction and despair, emphasizing salvation through grace as described in Ephesians 2:8.^[22][3] His motivations were rooted in a personal faith journey marked by God's healing interventions in his life, including recovery from multiple injuries sustained during stunts, which he attributed to divine purpose. Born Milan Mrdjenovich to Serbian immigrant parents, Novak's heritage informed his resilient character, though his ministry focused on evangelical outreach rather than traditional denominational ties. This early phase laid the foundation for his lifelong dedication to reaching the marginalized, often alongside his family who supported his endeavors.^[22][23]

Key activities and impact

Novak dedicated over 38 years to ministry work focused on skid row and prison outreach in Los Angeles and beyond. He conducted chapel services and Bible studies on spiritual warfare at the four primary skid row missions, including the Los Angeles Mission, while counseling and praying with individuals on the streets.^[24] In prisons, he preached in high-security facilities nationwide, delivering sermons in yards and cell blocks, and introduced the "Arsenal Prayer," which reached over 1,000,000 people and reportedly helped released inmates avoid recidivism.^[24] His philanthropic efforts included distributing more than 300,000 Bibles and 3,000 pairs of reading glasses to the homeless and incarcerated over 36 years, directly supporting faith-based communities in need.^[24] Novak also performed memorial services for several celebrities, such as actor Chuck Connors's son Jeffrey and director Tim Burton's father Bill, blending his ministerial role with his public profile.^[2] Additionally, he shared his testimony in the 2016 book Redeeming the Screens: Living Stories of Media "Ministers" Bringing the Message of Jesus Christ to the Entertainment Industry, where he noted how his acting career as a villain type enhanced his ability to connect with prison populations.^[5] Novak integrated his fame from Hollywood into ministry through speaking engagements and seminars on prayer and spiritual warfare, often held as weekend retreats or intensive sessions, allowing him to reach broader audiences in faith communities.^[24] These initiatives underscored his lasting impact on aiding the homeless and incarcerated, fostering spiritual growth and support networks in vulnerable populations.^[5]

Personal life and death

Family and relationships

Mel Novak was previously married to Vera Novak, with whom he had two daughters, Nikol and Lea.^[11][25] Novak had three grandchildren: Ali, Eli, and Ryan, who were from his daughter Lea and played significant roles in his family life during his later years.^[11] His grandson Eli died of cancer in 2024.^[5]

Illness and passing

In the final years of his life, Mel Novak experienced age-related health decline, leading to his residence in a care facility in Southern California.^[5] He passed away on April 9, 2025, at the age of 90 in Granada Hills, California, due to natural causes.^[26][2] Novak's daughter, Nikol Conant, confirmed the news of his death to media outlets, noting his peaceful passing surrounded by family. Survivors include his daughters Nikol and Lea, as well as his grandchildren.^[27][5] No public details on funeral arrangements were immediately released, though Conant announced that Novak's memoirs, titled Cross Heirs, would be published posthumously in December 2025, offering insights into his life and faith.^[5] His passing marked the end of a multifaceted legacy as an actor, minister, and family man, remembered for his enduring contributions to film and philanthropy.

Filmography

Film roles

Novak began his film career in the mid-1970s with supporting roles in blaxploitation and action films, often portraying antagonists or henchmen. He frequently performed his own stunts and fight scenes throughout his career, contributing to the physical intensity of his characters in martial arts and action genres.^[5][28]

1970s

• Truck Turner (1974) as Doctor^[29]
• Black Belt Jones (1974) as Blue Eyes^[29]
• The Ultimate Warrior (1975) as uncredited thug (performed own stunts)^[5]
• Game of Death (1978) as Stick (performed own fight scenes)^[2]
• A Force of One (1979) as The Announcer^[20]
• Missile X: The Neutron Bomb Incident (1979) as Garcia^[20]

1980s

• Tom Horn (1980) as Corbett's Bodyguard^[20]
• Lovely But Deadly (1981) as Warren Lang (performed own stunts)^[20][21]
• An Eye for an Eye (1981) as Tony Montoya (performed own action sequences)^[20][12]
• Force: Five (1981) as The Assassin (performed own stunts)^[29][5]
• Sword of Heaven (1985) as Major Dirk St. Jones (stunt performer)^[30]
• Family Reunion (1989) as Tom Andrews^[14]

1990s

• Exit to Eden (1994) as Walker's Henchman^[31]
• Dear God (1996) as Sidewalk Minister (uncredited)^[32]

2000s

Novak's roles in the 2000s were primarily in low-budget action and horror films, where he continued to handle his own action work.

• Vampire Assassin (2005) as Gustoff Slovak (performed own stunts)^[5]
• GiAnts (2008) as Jonathan Caine

2010s

In his later career, Novak appeared in numerous independent and cult films, including horror and sci-fi projects, often as authority figures or villains.

• Kill Factor (2010) as The Chief
• Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance (2015) as Cutter (cult indie film; performed own fight scenes)^[21]
• Nemesis 5: The New Model (2017) as Red Army Hammerhead Leader
• Syndicate Smasher (2017) as Milan^[29]
• Toxic Tutu (2017) as Himself
• Eternal Code (2019) as Mr. Pomeroy^[33]

2020s

• Ash and Bone (2022) as Bartender Louie^[2]
• Mega Ape (2023) as (unspecified role)^[2]

Television appearances

Mel Novak's television career featured a series of guest spots in crime and action-oriented series during the 1970s, followed by sporadic appearances in later decades, often as himself in interview formats or in supporting roles in independent productions. His early TV work emphasized tough, authoritative characters akin to his film villain personas, though typically in one-off episodes.^[34] Notable appearances include: These roles, while not as prolific as his film work, showcased Novak's versatility from law enforcement figures to interview subject, spanning over five decades. No recurring series roles were documented.^[5]

Bibliography

Book contributions

Mel Novak provided a personal account as one of the contributors to Gods in Polyester, or, A Survivor's Account of 70s Cinema Obscura, a 2004 collection edited by Suzanne Donahue and Mikael Sovijärvi and published by Succubus Press (ISBN 90-808700-1-3). His contribution consisted of original interview material reflecting on his roles in obscure, low-budget American films of the 1970s, such as Black Belt Jones (1974) and An Eye for an Eye (1981, though spanning the era's style).^[41] This testimony drew directly from his acting experiences in exploitation and action cinema, offering insider perspectives on the challenges and behind-the-scenes realities of B-movie production during that decade. Novak extended his literary involvement with a similar contribution to Gods in Spandex, or, A Survivor's Account of 80s Cinema Obscura, the 2007 follow-up volume also edited by Donahue and Sovijärvi and published by Succubus Press (ISBN 978-952-92-2409-8). In this book, his interview-based piece focused on his work in 1980s independent genre films, including titles like Sword of Heaven (1985) and Force: Five (1981), highlighting the evolution of low-budget filmmaking aesthetics and his recurring portrayals of antagonists.^[42] These writings were informed by his extensive career in cult cinema, where he appeared in over 50 films, providing authentic survivor narratives that enriched the books' oral history approach to obscura cinema. No other verified book contributions, such as forewords or standalone chapters in film-related publications, are documented from his lifetime.

Memoirs

Cross Heirs is Mel Novak's personal memoir, announced for posthumous publication in December 2025 by his daughter, Nikol Conant.^[5] The book serves as a capstone to his multifaceted life, encapsulating his experiences across entertainment, spirituality, and personal relationships. The memoir explores key themes from Novak's life, including his extensive acting career spanning over 70 feature films where he often portrayed villains and performed his own stunts, his decades-long commitment to ministry as an ordained minister sharing the Gospel in prisons, missions, and on the streets, his profound faith journey involving reported miraculous healings from injuries and illnesses, and intimate reflections on his roles as a father and family man.^[3] These elements highlight his transition from Hollywood tough guy to "gospel hitman," blending tales of resilience, redemption, and spiritual growth. Prior to Cross Heirs, Novak contributed chapters to earlier works like Gods in Polyester: A Survivor's Account of 70s Cinema Obscura, offering insights into the era's low-budget films. The memoir's creation, initiated in his later years, involved close family collaboration to finalize and prepare it for release following his passing.^[5]