Shelly Novack

Shelly Novack was an American actor who moved into screen work after a college football career. Born in Los Angeles County, he played wide receiver at Long Beach State and was picked by the AFL's San Diego Chargers in 1966, though he never took the field in a regular season game. During the offseason he played touch football, where he met Vincent Chase, an acting coach at Universal Studios, who invited him to the lot. A Punt, a Pass, and a Prayer, a Hallmark Hall of Fame television film, gave him his screen debut in 1968. He went on to guest roles on Ironside, Police Story, The Streets of San Francisco, Quincy, M.E., The Virginian and The Love Boat, had regular parts on the Quinn Martin series The F.B.I. from 1973 to 1974 and Most Wanted, and appeared in films including Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969) and Airport (1970). He died in 1978.