Mel Novak

 ( 1934 Births ) 

Milan Mrdjenovich (, Milan Mrđenović; June 16, 1934 – April 9, 2025), known as Mel Novak, was an American actor who was best known for villainous roles in Black Belt Jones, Game of Death, and An Eye for an Eye. He was also known for doing all of his own stunts and fighting scenes.

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Career

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1970s–1980s Born in Pittsburgh on June 16, 1934 to Serbs parents, Novak made his film debut in 1974, appearing in two blaxploitation films, Truck Turner starring Isaac Hayes and Black Belt Jones starring Jim Kelly that was directed by Robert Clouse that led to a part in Clouse's The Ultimate Warrior (1975) starring Yul Brynner. Cat in the Cage (1978) starring Sybil Danning, and others followed. One of his more high-profile parts from the 70's was as the hitman Stick in Game of Death (1978), again directed by Robert Clouse. Novak also had roles in two Chuck Norris films, A Force of One (1979) and An Eye for an Eye (1981). After the turn of the 1980's, Novak acted mostly in independent features, such as Lovely But Deadly (1981) for director/producer David Sheldon, starring B-movie heroine Lucinda Dooling.

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1990s–2000s In the 1990s, Novak appeared in two films for director Garry Marshall: Exit to Eden (1994), based on the novel by Anne Rice, and Dear God (1996).

In 2005, Novak appeared in the action/horror film Vampire Assassin, also featuring Gerald Okamura, with whom Novak acted in several films, and Rudy Ray Moore. In 2008, Novak was inducted in the Martial Arts Hall of Fame in London. In 2015, Novak had a prominent role in the action film, .

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Personal life and death Novak was also an ordained minister, known for doing celebrity funerals and memorials for the likes of Chuck Connors' son, Jeffrey Alan Connors, and Tim Burton's father, Bill Burton. He worked in skid row and prison ministry for over 39 years. He also had two daughters, Nikol and Lea, and three grandchildren from daughter Lea.

Novak died at a hospice in Granada Hills, California, on April 9, 2025, at the age of 90.

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Filmography

1974	Black Belt Jones	Blue Eyes
	Truck Turner	Doctor	Alternative title: Black Bullet
1975	The Ultimate Warrior	Lippert	Alternative titles: The Barony The Last Warrior
1978	Game of Death	Stick
		Mendosa	Alternative title: Teheran Incident
	Cat in the Cage	Ralph Desmond
1979	A Force of One	The Announcer
1980	Tom Horn	Corbett's bodyguard
1981	Lovely But Deadly	Warren Lang
		The Assassin
	An Eye for an Eye	Montoya
1985	Force of Darkness	Conrad
	Sword of Heaven	Dirk
1989	Family Reunion	Tom Andrews
1991	Capital Punishment	Mason Dover	Alternative title: Kickbox Terminator
1993	Expert Weapon	Miller	Alternative title: American Dragon
1994	Pocket Ninjas	Mr. Kaufman	Working title: Skate Dragons Alternative title: Super Sonic Pocket Ninjas on Wheels Foreign release title: Triple Dragon
	Direct Hit	Kovar
	Exit to Eden	Walker's henchman
1996	Dear God	Sidewalk Minister
1997	Future War	Otis
	Moonbase	Guard
1999	The F-Zone	Priest
2002	Power Elite	President Jonathan Caine
2003	GiAnts	Jonathan Caine	Direct-to-DVD release
2005	SWAT: Warhead One	Dick Danvers	Direct-to-DVD release
	Vampire Assassin	Gustoff Slovak	Alternate title: Vampire Assassins
2006	Big Guns	Larry Armstrong	Direct-to-DVD release
2008	Drifter TKD	Thomas Tyler
2015		Cutter
2016	Enter the Samurai	Himself	Documentary on the creation of Samurai Cop 2:Deadly Vengeance
2017	Syndicate Smasher	Milan
		Himself	Documentary
	Check Point (2017 film)	The Reverend
	Holy Terror	Father Murphy
	Toxic Tutu	Himself, Associate Producer
	Nemesis 5: The New Model	Red Army Hammerhead Leader
2018	Tales of Frankenstein	Dr. Mortality
	An Hour to Kill	Mr. Kinski
2019	Gangsters Incorporated	Stick
	Robowoman	Dr. Michaels
	Eternal Code	Mr. Pomeroy
2020	The Beast Beneath	Mayor George Reid
	Tales from the Campfire 3	Dr. Challis
	Ebola Rex	General Davis
	Ebola Rex Versus Murder Hornets
2022	Ash and Bone	Bartender Louie
1971	The F.B.I.	Policeman	1 episode
1973	Mannix	Elmo Bagley
1976	The Blue Knight	Steve
	Ark II	First guard
2006	Pastor Greg	Man with dog

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Bibliography

• (2026). 9789080870017, Succubus Press. ISBN 9789080870017

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External links

• A Nanarland.com interview

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