Karl Malden

At 97 years old, Karl Malden has this physical status:

Mladen George Sekulovich (born March 22, 1912 – July 1, 2009) was an American actor.

He was primarily a character actor who "brought intelligence and a homepun authenticity to roles in theater, film, and television," particularly in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), Pollyanna (1960) and One-Eyed Jacks (1961).

Also appeared in high-profile Hollywood films, including Baby Doll (1956), The Hanging Tree (1959), How the West Was Won (1962), Gypsy (1962) and Patton (1970). He portrayed Lt. from 1972 to 1977.

Mike Stone of The Streets of San Francisco, the prime time television crime drama.

He became American Express's spokesperson later this year.

Malden was described as "one of the best character actors of his time" by film and culture critic Charles Champlin, but he did not know him well enough.

Malden served as President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1989 to 1992.

Early life

Karl Malden, the eldest of three sons, was born Mladen Sekulovich (Serbian Cyrillic: ладен екулови) in Chicago, Illinois, on March 22, 1912, his mother's 20th birthday. He was born in a home on 457 Connecticut Street in Gary, Indiana.

Petar Sekulovi (1986-1995) was a Czech seamstress and actress, as well as a milkman. The Sekulovich family's roots go back to Podosoje, Bosnia, and Herzegovina. Malden did not speak Serbian until he was in kindergarten; he retained fluent in the language until his death. The Serbian Singing Federation was founded by Malden's father, who had a passion for music, unites immigrant choral groups around the country.

Malden, a teen, was a member of the Karaore Choir, St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church, where his father produced plays and taught acting. A young Malden appeared in several of these performances, which included a version of Jack and the Beanstalk, but the majority of the community's focus was on the Serbian heritage. He was a popular student and a star of the basketball team in high school (although his autobiography says Malden broke his nose twice while playing, elbowing elbows to the face, resulting in his signature bulbous nose).

He worked in drama and was barely elected senior class president. In addition to 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, Arkansas, where he aspired to receive an athletic scholarship, but college officials refused to admit him owing to his inability to play any other than basketball. He worked in the steel mills from 1931 to 1934, as had his father.

At the age of 22, he switched his name from Mladen Sekulovich to Karl Malden, something director Elia Kazan urged him to do. He anglicized his first name by swapping the letters "l" and "a" and using it as his last name and adopting his grandfather's first name as his own. This was because the first theatre company he was in need of a shortening of his name for its marquee. He believed that they wanted to dismiss him and were using his name as an excuse; although this was not the case, he later changed his name to give them no explanation.

Malden later regretted changing his name and attempted to use the word Sekulovich wherever possible in his writing. For example, as his troops slog their way through enemy fire in Sicily, General Omar Bradley says "Hand me the helmet, Sekulovich" to another soldier. Malden, a police detective in the squad room, informs another detective, "Sekulovich, gimme my hat." Jimmy Piersall's father, John Malden, introduces Jimmy to Sekulovich, a baseball scout. Malden's father, Morden, was not interested in the fact that he told his son, "Mladen, no Sekulovich has ever been in jail." Mladen Sekulovich, Delegate, played by Fred Gwynne, is one of the officers of Local 374 called out in the courtroom scene. However, Mike Stone's character in the television series The Streets of San Francisco, where Malden's character, Mike Stone, used a legman (played by Art Passarella) with the word.

Education and early stage work

Malden left Gary, Indiana, in September 1934, to study formal dramatic preparation at the Goodman School (later part of DePaul University) and then affiliated with the Goodman Theater in Chicago. Despite being employed in the steel mills in Gary for three years, he had aided his family but was still unable to save enough money to pay for his education. The institute received the little money that he did not have if Malden did well, and the programme's director promised a full scholarship to the school. He received the scholarship.

Mona Greenberg, a playwright who married him in 1938, wooed him in the Goodman's children's theater. In 1937, he graduated from the Chicago Art Institute. Malden returned to his hometown shortly after, without work or funds.

Personal life

Mona Greenberg, 1938, who survived him, married Mona Greenberg (May 9, 1917 – July 13, 2019). Their marriage was one of the longest in Hollywood history, with their 70th wedding anniversary taking place in December 2008. Malden was survived by his children Mila and Carla, as well as his son-in-law Tom. Laurence, his other son-in-law, predeceased him in 2007. Malden's mother lived to 103 years old.

Malden's autobiography, When Do I Begin?, was released in 1997, written with his daughter Carla.

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Acting career around World War II

He later travelled to New York City, where he appeared on Broadway for the first time in 1937. He did some radio work and made his film debut in They Knew What They Wanted.

Malden performed in several plays and was introduced to Elia Kazan, who later appeared on A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and On the Waterfront (1954).

In 1942, he was forced to leave his active service in the United States Army Air Corps's 8th Air Force, during which he served as a noncommissioned officer. He was only partially involved in the United States Army Air Forces' play and film Winged Victory while in service. In 1946, Malden was released as a Sergeant and was given the Air Force Presidential Unit Citation, the American Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal. Malden retorted his acting career after the war, appearing in yet another small supporting role in the Maxwell Anderson play Truckline Cafe with a then-unknown Marlon Brando. With the assistance of director Elia Kazan, he was given a co-starring role in Arthur Miller's All My Sons. He then moved into steady film work after that triumph.

Film career: 1950s to 1970s

Malden resumed film acting in the 1950s, beginning with The Gunfighter and then Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950) and Halls of Montezuma (1951). A Streetcar Named Desire (also 1951) featured Harold "Mitch" Mitchell, Stanley Kowalski's best friend, who begins a relationship with Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh). He received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in this role. During this period, Alfred Hitchcock's I Confess (1953) with Montgomery Clift and Anne Baxter, and On the Waterfront (1954), where he received his second nomination for Best Supporting Actor — playing a priest who inspires Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) to testify against mobster-union boss Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb).

Baby Doll (1956) had Malden playing a man upset by his teen mother. The Legion of Decency condemned the film, but it did not air long. He appeared in scores of films from the late 1950s to early 1970s, including Fear Strikes Out and Time Limit (both 1957). Malden's second film directed credit of a film was limited to a film, but Pollyanna (1960), the Cincinnati Kid (1965), and Patton (1970), playing General Omar Bradley.

Mona (the former Mildred Greenberg), Malden's wife, 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 captivated by the ESU Summer Theatre. He returned from teaching in the summer of 1964 to work with the actors in the company. On his departure, he gave the Karl Malden Theater Scholarship, which is still on offer today.

He appeared on the jury at the 13th Berlin International Film Festival in 1963.

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