Karl Malden
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Karl Malden (born on March 22, 1912) is an Emmy Award-winning, Oscar-winning and Golden Globe-nominated American actor of Serbian origin, known for his expansive manner. In a career that spanned over seven decades, he was featured in classic films such as A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront and One-Eyed Jacks, with Marlon Brando, and also starred in the blockbuster movie, Patton. Among other notable film roles are Archie Lee Meighan in Baby Doll and Zebulon Prescott in How the West Was Won both starring Carroll Baker. His best-known role was on television as Lt. Mike Stone on the 1970s crime drama, The Streets of San Francisco.
BiographyEarly lifeThe eldest of three brothers, Malden was born Mladen George Sekulovich (from Mladen George Sekulović, Serbian:Младен Ђорђе Секуловић) in Chicago, Illinois on March 22, 1912. He was the child of a Serb father, Petar Sekulovich, and a Czech seamstress mother, Minnie Sekulovich. The family moved from Chicago to the Serbian quarter of Gary, Indiana, in 1917, when Malden was five years old. It was in Gary that his father would work in the steel mills and as a milkman. The Sekulovich family roots trace back to the city of Bileća in Herzegovina. Malden spoke Serbian until he was in kindergarten. Malden's father had a passion for music, as Petar began organizing for the choir. As a teenager, Karl joined the Karageorge Choir. In addition, his father produced Serbian plays at his church. Petar also taught students acting. A young Malden took part in many of these plays, including a version of Jack and the Beanstalk but most centering 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 basketball, 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. After graduating from Emerson School for Visual and Performing Arts 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 due to his refusal to play any sport beside basketball. From 1931 until 1934, he worked in the steel mills, as had his father. From his uncle, he changed his name from Mladen Sekulovich to Karl Malden, when he became an actor at age 22. Malden often finds 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 "Birdman of Alcatraz", as a prison warden touring the cellblock, Malden recites a list of inmates' names, including Sekulovich. In 1997, Malden published his autobiography, When Do I Start, written with his daughter, Carla Malden. Education and early stage workIn 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's 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 Gary. CareerActing career: circa World War IIHis life in his hometown came to an end as he traveled to New York City, and found some more appropriate plays for the city. He first appeared as an actor on Broadway in 1937, then did some radio work, before becoming a movie character actor in 1940, where his first film was They Knew What They Wanted (1940). He also attended the Group Theatre, where he began acting in many plays and was introduced to a young Elia Kazan, who would soon work with him on A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and On the Waterfront (1954). His acting career was interrupted by World War II and Malden served as a noncommissioned officer in the US 8th Air Force. While in the war, 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, receiving yet another small supporting role in the play Truckline Cafe, with a young, unknown actor, Marlon Brando. He also guest-starred in both The Ford Theatre and The Armstrong Circle Theatre. Jobs were getting harder to find for him, as he was in his mid-30s and was about to give up. He received a co-starring role in the play, All My Sons with the help of director Elia Kazan. With that success, he then crossed over into movies. Film career: 1950s to 1970sMalden resumed his film acting career in the 1950s, starting with The Gunfighter (1950), which was followed by Halls of Montezuma (1950). The following year, he starred in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), where he played Mitch, Stanley Kowalski's best friend who starts a romance with Blanche DuBois (Vivian Leigh). For this role, he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. When he attended the awards ceremony for this film, he rented a tuxedo. At the ceremony, he sat behind Hollywood legend Humphrey Bogart, and when his name was announced as the winner, he gave his rented suit jacket to Bogart for him to look after. Later, backstage, he sought Bogart for his jacket, but when he couldn't find it he asked Bogart where it had gone. Bogart replied: "Forget about the jacket, kid. You've just won an Oscar!" He later found his jacket and returned it to the store the following day.[citation needed] 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. Before and after he arrived in Hollywood, he starred in dozens of films of 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 his last film, Summertime Killer (1972), he appeared in the made-for-television film The Hijacking of the Achille Lauro (1989) (as Leon Klinghoffer). Television work
The Streets of San FranciscoIn 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. 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, Ironside, 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. On the show, his character left police work for teaching. Lt. Stone's new partner was Inspector Dan Robbins, played by Richard Hatch. The show took a ratings nosedive, and ABC canceled The Streets of San Francisco after five seasons and 119 episodes. SkagSkag was an hour-long dramatic television series starring Karl Malden 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 film for the series had Skag temporarily disabled by a stroke, and explored the effects it had on his family and co-workers. The show was considered very daring for its time in the issues it tackled, like impotence and infidelity. The critics gave Skag very positive reviews and even took out full page ads to save the show. However, it was not highly rated and was cancelled after several episodes. To this day, Malden is proud of the show and wishes it were still on the air.[citation needed] Other workAmerican ExpressMalden famously delivered the line "Don't leave home without them!" in a series of US television commercials for American Express Travelers Cheques in the 1970s and 1980s. USPS CommitteeHe is 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.[1] Personal QuotesKarl: "People have told me that I came to this industry at its Golden Age. But when I was there, it was just an age." (Source: USIMDB.com) Karl: "I am thrilled to be honored by the Screen Actors Guild because I've been with it for such a long time. The Screen Actors Guild is sort of a highfalutin name for a union, and this union was always wonderful to work for. For the rank-and-file of the union to honor me is the best compliment I can receive." (Source: USIMDB.com) Karl on his early days: "My father was a milkman. So, I delivered milk." (Source: USIMDB.com) Karl on Norman Jewison winning the award: "Norman deserved that award; he's a damn good director, The Cincinnati Kid". (Source: Thinkexist.com) Karl on his days of working with Norman Jewison: "He could handle longtime stars like Joan Blondell and Edward G. Robinson, and he also could handle Steve McQueen. Norman stepped in at the last moment (Sam Peckinpah had been fired after a week's filming), and that's not an easy thing to do." (Source: Thinkexist.com) Private lifeMalden has been married to Mona Greenberg since December 18, 1938. Their marriage is one of the longest in Hollywood history. In 1976, his father, Petar Sekulovich, died. To honour the memory of his father, Malden had a role in Twilight Time six years later. It was a private film, not seen by many. Selected Filmography
AwardsKarl 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. Karl Malden is a past president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In October of 2003, Malden was named the 40th recipient of the Screen Actors' Guild's Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment. 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 honour of Malden's achievements. The bill, H.R. 3667, was sponsored by Representatives Henry Waxman and Diane Watson. In May 2001, Karl Malden received an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, from Valparaiso University. 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.
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