Karl Malden (born
Mladen George Sekulovich,
Serbian Cyrillic: Младен Ђорђе Секуловић; March 22, 1912 – July 1, 2009)
was an American actor. In a career that spanned more than seven decades, he featured in classic
Marlon Brando films such as
A Streetcar Named Desire,
On the Waterfront and
One-Eyed Jacks. Among other notable film roles were Archie Lee Meighan in
Baby Doll, Zebulon Prescott in
How the West Was Won and
General Omar Bradley in
Patton. His best-known role was on television as Lt. Mike Stone on the 1970s
crime drama,
The Streets of San Francisco. During the 1980s he was spokesman for
American Express, reminding cardholders "Don't leave home without it".
Early life
Malden, the eldest of three brothers, was born in
Chicago, Illinois[See Childhood and Family in Karl Malden] and raised in
Gary, Indiana. His mother, Minnie (née Sebera) Sekulovich (1893 - 1995), was a
Czech seamstress and actress, and his Serbian father, Petar Sekulović (1886 - 1975), worked in the steel mills and as a milkman.
[www.filmreference.com/film/4/Karl-Malden.html] The Sekulovich family roots trace back to Podosoje near the city of
Bileća in
Bosnia and Herzegovina. Malden spoke the
Serbian language until he was in kindergarten. Malden's father had a passion for music, and organized a choir. As a teenager, Malden joined the
Karageorge Choir. In addition, his father produced Serbian plays at his church and taught acting. A young Malden took part in many of these plays, which included a version of
Jack and the Beanstalk, but mostly centered on the community's Serbian heritage. In
high school he was a popular student and the star of the
basketball team (according to his autobiography, Malden broke his nose twice while playing, taking elbows to the face and resulting in his trademark bulbous nose). He participated in the drama department, and was narrowly elected senior class president. Among other roles, he played Pooh Bah in
The Mikado. After graduating from
Emerson High School in 1931 with high marks, he briefly planned to leave Gary for
Arkansas, where he hoped to win an athletic scholarship, but college officials did not admit him owing to his refusal to play any sport besides basketball. From 1931 until 1934, he worked in the
steel mills, as had his father.
He changed his name from
Mladen Sekulovich to
Karl Malden at age 22. He anglicized his first name by switching the letters "l" and "a" and making it his last name; then he proceeded to take his grandfather's first name.
[www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/07/01/karl.malden.obit/index.html] This was because the first theatre company he was in wanted him to shorten his name for the marquee. He thought they wanted to fire him and were using his name as an excuse, although this was not the case, so he changed it not to give them the excuse.
Malden often found ways to say "Sekulovich" in films and television shows in which he appears. For example, as General
Omar Bradley in
Patton, as his troops slog their way through enemy fire in
Sicily, Malden says "Hand me that helmet, Sekulovich" to another soldier. In
Dead Ringer, as a police detective in the squad room, Malden tells another detective: "Sekulovich, gimme my hat." In
Fear Strikes Out, Malden, playing
Jimmy Piersall's father John, introduces Jimmy to a baseball scout named Sekulovich. In
Birdman of Alcatraz, as a prison warden touring the cell block, Malden recites a list of inmates' names, including Sekulovich. Malden's father was not pleased, as he told his son 'Mladen, no Sekulovich has ever been in prison!' Perhaps the most notable usage of his real name was in the TV series
The Streets of San Francisco. Malden's character in the program, Mike Stone, employed a legman (played by
Art Metrano) with that name, who did various errands. Also, in
On the Waterfront, in which Malden plays the priest, among the names of the officers of Local 374 called out in the courtroom scene is Mladen Sekulovich, Delegate.
Education and early stage work
In September 1934, Malden decided to leave his home in
Gary,
Indiana, to pursue formal dramatic training at the Goodman School (later part of
DePaul University), then associated with the
Goodman Theater in
Chicago. Although he had worked in the steel mills in Gary for three years, he had helped support his family, and was thus unable to save enough money to pay for his schooling. Making a deal with the director of the program, he gave the institute the little money that he did have, with the
director agreeing that, if Malden did well, he would be rewarded with a full scholarship. He won the
scholarship. When Malden performed in the Goodman's children's theater, he wooed the actress
Mona Greenberg (stage name: Mona Graham), who married him in 1938. He graduated from the
Chicago Art Institute in 1937. Soon after, without work and without money, Malden returned to his hometown.
Acting career circa World War II
He eventually traveled to
New York City, and first appeared as an
actor on
Broadway in 1937. He did some
radio work and in a small role made his film debut in
They Knew What They Wanted. He also joined the
Group Theatre, where he began acting in many plays and was introduced to a young
Elia Kazan, who would later work with him on
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and
On the Waterfront (1954).
His acting career was interrupted by
World War II, during which he served as a
noncommissioned officer in the
8th Air Force. While in the service, he was given a small role in the
U.S. Army Air Forces play and film
Winged Victory. After the war ended in 1945, he resumed his acting career, playing yet another small supporting role in the
Maxwell Anderson play
Truckline Cafe, with a then-unknown
Marlon Brando. He was given a co-starring role in the
Arthur Miller play
All My Sons with the help of director
Elia Kazan. With that success, he then crossed over into steady film work.
Film career: 1950s to 1970s
Malden resumed his film acting career in the 1950s, starting with
The Gunfighter (1950) and
Halls of Montezuma (1950). The following year, he was in
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), playing Mitch,
Stanley Kowalski's best friend who starts a romance with
Blanche DuBois (
Vivien Leigh). For this role, he won an
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Other films during this period included
On the Waterfront (1954), where he played a priest who influenced Terry Malloy (
Marlon Brando) to testify against mobster-union boss Johnny Friendly (
Lee J. Cobb). In
Baby Doll (1956), he played a power-hungry sexual man who had been frustrated by a teenage wife. He starred in dozens of films from the late 1950s to the early 1970s, such as
Fear Strikes Out (1957),
Pollyanna (1960),
Birdman of Alcatraz (1962),
Gypsy (1962),
How the West Was Won (1962),
The Cincinnati Kid (1965), and
Patton (1970), playing General
Omar Bradley. After
Summertime Killer (1972), he appeared in the made-for-television film
The Hijacking of the Achille Lauro (1989) (as
Leon Klinghoffer).
Malden’s wife, Mona, the former Mildred Greenberg, graduated from Roosevelt High School in
Emporia, Kansas where she attended Kansas State Teachers College, now
Emporia State University. He first visited the campus with her in 1959 and was impressed by the ESU Summer Theatre. He returned in the summer of 1964 to teach, working with the actors in the company. Upon leaving, he gave his honorarium to establish the Karl Malden Theater Scholarship still given today.
Television work
In 1972, Malden was approached by producer
Quinn Martin about starring as
Lt. Mike Stone in
The Streets of San Francisco. Although the concept originated as a made-for-television movie,
ABC quickly signed on to carry it as a series. Martin hired
Michael Douglas to play Lt. Stone's young partner, Inspector Steve Keller.
Malden's father was delighted about this series being in San Francisco, as he had intended to settle in that city, but had to change his plans as he'd arrived on the day of the
1906 San Francisco earthquake.
On
Streets, Malden played a widowed veteran cop with more than 20 years of experience who is paired with a young officer recently graduated from college. During its first season, it was a ratings winner among many other 1970s
crime dramas, and served as
ABC's answer to such shows as
Hawaii Five-O,
Adam-12,
Ironside,
Barnaby Jones,
Kojak,
McMillan and Wife,
Police Woman,
The Rockford Files, and
Switch.
During the second season, production shifted from
Los Angeles to
San Francisco. For his work as Lt. Stone, Malden was nominated for a
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor - Drama Series four times between 1974 and 1977, but never won. After two episodes in the fifth season, Douglas left the show to act in movies; Douglas had also produced the film
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 1975. Lt. Stone's new partner was Inspector Dan Robbins, played by
Richard Hatch. The show took a ratings nosedive, and
ABC canceled it after five seasons and 119 episodes.
In 1980, Malden starred in
Skag, an hour-long drama that focused on the life of a foreman at a
Pittsburgh steel mill. Malden described his character, Pete Skagska, as a simple man trying to keep his family together. The
pilot episode for the series had Skag temporarily disabled by a
stroke, and explored the effects it had on his family and co-workers. While
Skag met with poor ratings, critics praised it, in instances there were even full page ads taken out in newspapers in an attempt to keep the program from being taken off the air. Nevertheless the series was canceled after several episodes.
Malden's last role in film or television was in 2000 in the highly acclaimed first season episode of the
The West Wing titled "
Take This Sabbath Day". Malden portrayed a Catholic priest and used the same Bible he had used in
On the Waterfront.
His name has also been mentioned in an episode of the hit U.S. sitcom F.R.I.E.N.D.S. when Chandler asks the girls "Why is Phoebe hugging Karl Malden?"
Other work
Malden famously delivered the line "Don't leave home without them!" in a series of U.S. television commercials for
American Express Travelers Cheques in the 1970s and 1980s.
Malden was a member of the
United States Postal Service's 16-member
Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, which meets to review recommendations for U.S. commemorative
postage stamps.
[USPS: Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee. USPS.com.][thefastertimes.com/theatertalk/2009/11/01/bustin-with-bliss-5q4-ernie-harburg/ | See this for a picture of the Yip Harburg commemorative Malden was partly responsible for and a description of the campaign to have it issued.]
Personal life
On December 18, 1938, Malden married Mona Greenberg, who survives him. Their marriage was one of the longest in
Hollywood's history,
[Oscar-winning actor Karl Malden dies aged 97] lasting more than 70 years. In addition to his wife, Malden is survived by daughters Mila and Carla, his sons-in-law, three granddaughters, Alison, Emily, and Cami, and four great-grandchildren, Mila, Stella, Charlie, and Thomas Karl.
[www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/01/MN8O11IQEF.DTL]
In 1997, Malden published his
autobiography,
When Do I Start?, written with his daughter Carla.
Malden died at his home in the
Brentwood section of
Los Angeles on July 1, 2009 at the age of 97. He is said to have died of natural causes. Malden's manager said "It could be many things. I mean, he was 97 years old!" A service will be held for Malden in the next 3–4 weeks.
He is said to have been in poor health for several years.
[news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8129710.stm]
Malden's friend and former co-star Michael Douglas wrote a tribute to Malden for
Time Magazine's Milestones section.
Awards and recognition
Malden won the 1951
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for
A Streetcar Named Desire and was nominated in 1954 for his supporting role in
On the Waterfront. Malden was a past president of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In October 2003, he was named the 40th recipient of the
Screen Actors' Guild's Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment.
In 1985, he was awarded an
Emmy for
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series for his performance as Freddy Kassab in
Fatal Vision. During the same year, he was also awarded an honorary doctor degree in fine arts by
Emporia State University.
In May 2001, Malden received an honorary degree,
Doctor of Humane Letters, from
Valparaiso University.
On November 11, 2004, his ex-
Streets of San Francisco co-star
Michael Douglas presented Malden with the Monte Cristo Award of the
Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in
Waterford, Connecticut, for the Lifetime Achievement Award. Among the recipients besides Malden were
Jason Robards,
Zoe Caldwell,
Edward Albee,
August Wilson and
Brian Dennehy.
On November 12, 2005, the
United States House of Representatives authorized the
U.S. Postal Service to rename the
Los Angeles Barrington Postal Station as the
Karl Malden Postal Station in honor of Malden's achievements. The bill,
H.R. 3667, was sponsored by Representatives
Henry Waxman and
Diane Watson.
For his contribution to the
motion picture industry, Karl Malden has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6231 Hollywood Blvd. In 2005, he was inducted into the
Western Performers Hall of Fame at the
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in
Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma.
[www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/info/awards-hof/Western-Performers.aspx]
Filmography
[
malden marlon brando waterfront 4.jpg|thumb|250px|Karl Malden with [[Marlon Brando] in the trailer for
On the Waterfront]] (1954)
[
malden eva marie saint waterfront 1.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Karl Malden with [[Eva Marie Saint] in the trailer for
On the Waterfront]] (1954)
[
trailer 16.jpg|thumb|250px|Karl Malden with [[Claudette Colbert] in the trailer for
Parrish]] (1961)
[
malden on the waterfront 2.jpg|thumb|250px|Karl Malden as Father Barry in the trailer for [[On the Waterfront] (1954)]]
