Karl Malden with Vivien Leigh in "Streetcar Named Desire" in 1951. One of his most memorable roles was as Mitch, the hopelessly inept suitor of Blanche DuBois, in a legendary Broadway production of Tennessee Williams's "Streetcar Named Desire" directed by Elia Kazan. He repeated the part in Mr. Kazan's film version, and won an Academy Award for it. Left, Mr. Malden with Vivien Leigh in the 1951 film.Photo: Warner Brothers, via Photofest
His family announced his death to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which Mr. Malden served as president from 1989 to 1992. The announcement said family members were present when he died of natural causes in his home in the Brentwood section.
Mr. Malden was perhaps the ideal Everyman. He realized early on that he lacked the physical attributes of a leading man; he often joked about his blunt features, particularly his crooked, bulbous nose, which he had broken several times while playing basketball in school. But he was, he once said, determined “to be No. 1 in the No. 2 parts I was destined to get.”
He wound up playing everything from a whiskey-swigging cowboy to a prison warden, from an Army drill sergeant to the combative priest opposite Marlon Brando in “On the Waterfront.” [rc]
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Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
July 2, 2009
USA: Karl Malden, the Uncommon Everyman Actor, Dies at 97
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NEW YORK, NY / The New York Times / July 2, 2009
By Robert Berkvist
Karl Malden, the Academy Award-winning character actor whose half-century in show business carried him from the theater to films and then to television, where he policed the streets of San Francisco and became indelibly identified with a commercial for traveler's checks, died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 97.
Karl Malden with Vivien Leigh in "Streetcar Named Desire" in 1951. One of his most memorable roles was as Mitch, the hopelessly inept suitor of Blanche DuBois, in a legendary Broadway production of Tennessee Williams's "Streetcar Named Desire" directed by Elia Kazan. He repeated the part in Mr. Kazan's film version, and won an Academy Award for it. Left, Mr. Malden with Vivien Leigh in the 1951 film.Photo: Warner Brothers, via Photofest
His family announced his death to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which Mr. Malden served as president from 1989 to 1992. The announcement said family members were present when he died of natural causes in his home in the Brentwood section.
Mr. Malden was perhaps the ideal Everyman. He realized early on that he lacked the physical attributes of a leading man; he often joked about his blunt features, particularly his crooked, bulbous nose, which he had broken several times while playing basketball in school. But he was, he once said, determined “to be No. 1 in the No. 2 parts I was destined to get.”
He wound up playing everything from a whiskey-swigging cowboy to a prison warden, from an Army drill sergeant to the combative priest opposite Marlon Brando in “On the Waterfront.” [rc]
To continue reading, click here
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Karl Malden with Vivien Leigh in "Streetcar Named Desire" in 1951. One of his most memorable roles was as Mitch, the hopelessly inept suitor of Blanche DuBois, in a legendary Broadway production of Tennessee Williams's "Streetcar Named Desire" directed by Elia Kazan. He repeated the part in Mr. Kazan's film version, and won an Academy Award for it. Left, Mr. Malden with Vivien Leigh in the 1951 film.Photo: Warner Brothers, via Photofest
His family announced his death to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which Mr. Malden served as president from 1989 to 1992. The announcement said family members were present when he died of natural causes in his home in the Brentwood section.
Mr. Malden was perhaps the ideal Everyman. He realized early on that he lacked the physical attributes of a leading man; he often joked about his blunt features, particularly his crooked, bulbous nose, which he had broken several times while playing basketball in school. But he was, he once said, determined “to be No. 1 in the No. 2 parts I was destined to get.”
He wound up playing everything from a whiskey-swigging cowboy to a prison warden, from an Army drill sergeant to the combative priest opposite Marlon Brando in “On the Waterfront.” [rc]
To continue reading, click here
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
