Meet Lenka Novak!
You might not know the name, and I didn’t until recently, but now know here well, and got an update from one of my readers about her!
I came across Lenka’s name in the credits of this film.
“Vampire Hookers” is a goofy, fun entry in 70’s Grindhouse cinema – but I was mesmerized by one Actress in particular:
Lenka Novak is in the green outfit – and she was terrific in the movie – for many reasons I’ll expand upon in a moment – so I looked her up, which leads to this question:
“Whatever Happened To Lenka Novak?”
Just a heads up that this post will have some nude photos of Lenka – don’t want to offend any cult movie fans…OK, ready to go? Let’s talk Lenka!
Here’s why I discovered.
It’s incredible, but almost her entire career took place within 2 years! Novak made her film debut in 1977, in a small role as a manicurist in “Moonshine County Express.”
She next popped up in the hilariously bawdy 1977 comedy “The Kentucky Fried Movie”, made by the Zucker Brothers, whose next film was “Airplane!”
Yes, this scene had Novak as one of three Actresses “introducing” each other while sitting nude – if you’ve seen the film, you’ll understand how over-the-top it is!
Lenka then played a cheerleader in the film “Coach” that same year before appearing in Playboy!
Novak was featured in the August 1977 issue of “Playboy” – yes, all of this happened in a single year!
It seemed her career was going in the right direction – being featured in Playboy at that time would have gotten her a huge amount of attention in the business.
Her Film – With Three Titles!
She next portrayed one of the sexy bloodsuckers in the 1978 horror film “Vampire Hookers.”
Legendary Actor John Carradine starred in the film, but he was clearly very old – that said, he narrates this classic cult movie trailer:
The movie is a fun “B” movie. No real nudity at all for most of the running time, until the “Female Vampires” finally get to take part int he plot! After stalking the Sailors the film was focused on, these “Vampire Hookers” suddenly decide to shed their clothes for an extended orgy sequence!
And As For That Name…
One funny aspect of exploitation movies of that era: they were frequently re-named and re-released to grind house theaters, which is why Novak also starred in these two films as well:
That’s right – they are both “Vampire Hookers” – just re-titled!
So as you can see, Novak was showing up in all kinds of cult films, and with a Playboy pictorial, you would have thought the sky was the limit!
In 1979, Novak co-starred in “Cheerleaders’ Wild Weekend” AKA “The Great American Girl Robbery”. In that film, however, she is credited as Hana Byrbo.
The film starred Kristen DeBell, who had notoriously starred in the X-rated musical version of “Alice In Wonderland”.
Here is the trailer for “Cheerleaders’ Wild Weekend” – while there isn’t nudity in the trailer, note that one “Cheerleader” is shown flashing the hick in the pickup truck behind the bus:
That was Lenka! So, another cult movie in the can, what wa next for Novak?
Strangely, that was it! “Cheerleaders’ Wild Weekend” was released in 1979, and then there are NO additional credits for Lenka other than a short appearance in a horror documentary in 1985.
Her next role was nine years later, a small part in the horror film “Slaughterhouse Rock.”
So, What Happened To Lenka Novak?
Well, I couldn’t find out anything about her – did she retire, get married, lose interest in the business?
Well, a reader answered the questions for us!
“Lenka is still alive and well and residing in the Los Angeles area. She is a very active person and enjoys the outdoors, traveling and hiking.
She is 62 years old now and was from Sweden originally. She started her career off as a nude model over in Europe (lets just say at a young age! although probably legal age in those countries.) and appeared in many magazines such as Mayfair and the UK edition of Penthouse. This was several years before her Playboy appearance and was also in several other US nudie mags such as Oui and Juggs.
She got married at the end of the 80s and started a family afterwards and decided to drop out of the the public spotlight.”
Thanks for sharing that with us – bravo to her for a great life post movies!
I mentioned she showed up in “Kentucky Fried Movie” in a few funny film parodies – and do you know who else was in that movie?
Legendary Russ Meyer star Uschi Digard is int he movie trailer “Catholic High School Girls In Trouble”, but she has done so much more!
Click here to see all of her film exploits!
And of course, if you want to know why Novak is naked on a couch with two other Actresses, read all about one of the finest films of all time, “Kentucky Fried Movie”, by clicking here!
http://johnrieber.com/2013/06/03/big-jim-slade-fistfuls-of-yen-its-the-kentucky-fried-movie/
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Categories: 70's Films, Artsploitation, Camp Cult Classics, Cult Classics, Exploitation Films, Grindhouse, Horror films, JRsploitation, Nudity, Sexploitation Films, Talent / Celebrites, Uncategorized
JR-Sploitation! 
Lenka is still alive and well and residing in the Los Angeles area. She is a very active person and enjoys the outdoors, traveling and hiking.
She is 62 years old now and was from Sweden originally. She started her career off as a nude model over in Europe (lets just say at a young age! although probably legal age in those countries.) and appeared in many magazines such as Mayfair and the UK edition of Penthouse. This was several years before her Playboy appearance and was also in several other US nudie mags such as Oui and Juggs.
She got married at the end of the 80s and started a family afterwards and decided to drop out of the the public spotlight.
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Thanks for sharing this! I will update the story so everyone knows…she was terrific and deserves accolades for her career!
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