Big nose, bigger talent: Oscar-winner Karl Malden remembered as consummate actor

Another one is gone.

Another voice is still.
Karl Malden, he with the bulbous nose and shining talent, took his seat among other Great Stars in that Great Theater in the Sky on July 1, 2009. Malden died in his sleep of natural causes at about 2:30 a.m., surrounded by his family at his Brentwood, California, home. He was 97. He and his wife Mona had celebrated their 70th (!) wedding anniversary in December.

He was born Mladen George Sekulovich in Gary, Indiana; when the the former steel-mill worker began acting, he took his grandfather’s first name and rearranged the spelling of his own first name, he once explained, “to fit theater marquees.”

It worked.

Many remember Malden for his successful stint as Lt. Mike Stone in the ’70s TV series The Streets of San Francisco, in which co-starred with Michael Douglas. Malden earned five Emmy nominations for the show, but didn’t win the coveted award until the 1985 miniseries Fatal Vision.

Others remember him from those American Express commercials, a 21-year stint that made him more dough than his film and TV work . . . and added “Don't leave home without them” to our lexicon.

But we remember him from his slew of films, more than 50 of them, including Patton, Pollyanna, I Confess, All Fall Down, Nuts, Fear Strikes Out, The Sting II, Cheyenne Autumn and Baby Doll, the controversial 1956 child-bride gem that was condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency for what was termed its “carnal suggestiveness.”

Easy stuff for such a  pro?

“There's no such thing as an easy job, not if you do it right," Malden once said.

We especially remember Malden as Blanche DuBois' naive suitor Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire, the role he reprised from Broadway and the role that earned him an Oscar.

We desired more and asked our pal Robert Osborne for his take. He remembers Malden this way: “Karl Malden was a consummate actor, one of the few able to make a striking impression even when working with scene-stealers like Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire and Rosalind Russell in the musical Gypsy. He was also a true gentleman, a man proud of his profession and one of the strongest presidents to head the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. How lucky we are that he was in our midst for so many years and left behind so many unique performances for the world to enjoy for decades to come.”

Eva Marie Saint, who worked with Malden in On the Waterfront recalls calls that Malden "never changed, he always became the character. If you watch his work, he never falls, there's never a false move."

To celebrate Malden’s moves and movies, TCM will be honoring the actor with a primetime lineup on Friday, July 10. Here’s the schedule (all times are EST):

8 p.m. On the Waterfront (1952) Malden earned an Oscar-nomination for his performance as a priest who helps prize-fighter wannabe Marlon Brando come to terms with a corrupt boss. Elia Kazan’s gritty drama co-stars Rod Steiger, Eva Marie Saint and Lee J. Cobb.

10 p.m. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) Malden took Oscar home for Elia Kazan’s adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ play. Fellow Oscar winners Vivian Leigh and Kim Hunter co-star, along with screen powerhouse Marlon Brando.

12:15 a.m. Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) Malden co-stars opposite Burt Lancaster in this true story about Robert Stroud, a convict who became a world-renowned bird expert. Thelma Ritter, Betty Field, Neville Brand and Telly Savalas also star in this John Frankenheimer drama.

Oh, yes.How did the thespian who had a nose for good roles get such a big nose?

He once confessed that he broke it a couple of times playing high-school football, joking that he was "the only actor in Hollywood whose nose qualifies him for handicapped parking."