Mel Novak, 1942 - 2025

Actor Mel Novak, 82, died on April 9. The character actor was best known for his villainous roles, including hit man Stick in Bruce Lee’s Game of Death, and heavy roles in Chuck Norris’s A Force of One, and An Eye for an Eye, and a Nazi opposite Jerry Lewis in Which Way to the Front. Beginning in 1967, Novak appeared in such films and TV shows as The Love-Ins, Mannix, The Blue Knight, Truck Turner, Black Belt Jones, The Ultimate Warrior, and Cat in the Cage. The indie film Lovely But Deadly was a success, as were two Garry Marshall films, Exit to Eden and Dear God. Novak was also an ordained minister who I hope brought food and medical care to Skid Row residents and prison inmates.