RIP: Karl Malden (1912-2009)

Award-winning film & TV legend passes away peacefully at 97

BY EMIL TIEDEMANN

Legendary Oscar-winning screen and television star Karl Malden passed away from "natural causes" yesterday (July 1st) at his Brentwood, California home. He is survived by his wife of over 70 years, Mona, as well as two daughters, three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He was 97 years old.

Born Mladen George Sekulovich in Chicago, Illinois, the future film star was reared by a Czech actress for a mother and a Serbian father who was a steel mill worker, and who taught acting on the side. Malden caught the acting bug young, appearing in school plays, and then officially changed his name when he was 22.

After studying drama in college, Malden married actress Mona Greenberg in 1938, but not before he made his Broadway debut the year prior. Malden, who served as a non-commissioned officer during World War II, resumed his acting career in 1945, with roles in features like Boomerang (1947), The Gunfighter (1950) and Halls of Montezuma (1951).

Also during 1951 Malden got his big break when he landed a role in Elia Kazan's A Streetcar Named Desire, which earned him an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor. He was nominated for the same Oscar for his part in Kazan's 1954 epic On the Waterfront. But the prolific actor was also well-known for his TV roles, most notably as Lt. Mike Stone in The Streets of San Francisco (1972-77).

The one-time Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences president (1989-91) has collected various other awards and accolades throughout his six-decade career, including a 1985 Emmy for the Fatal Vision mini-series, the Screen Actors' Guild's Lifetime Achievement Award in '03, and a couple of honorary degrees (1985 and 2001).

In 1997 Malden published his autobiography, When Do I Start?, which he co-penned with daughter Carla. The former American Express spokesman's other films have included Baby Doll (1956), Pollyanna (1960), One-Eyed Jacks (1961), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), How the West Was Won (1962), Gypsy (1962), Dead Ringer (1964), Hotel (1967), Patton (1970), Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979) and his last, Nuts (1987).

"I'm a workaholic. I love every movie I've been in, even the bad ones, every TV series, every play, because I love to work. It's what keeps me going."
-Karl Malden