RSS
Home
Karl Malden RIP
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
To a generation of classic Disney movie fans, Karl Malden will always be Reverend Ford, taught by Pollyanna to look for the good in people. Maybe you remember him best in his Oscar-winning performance in “On the Waterfront,” or as baseball great Jimmy Piersall’s dad, John, in “Fear Strikes Out,” or even as American hockey legend Herb Brooks in “Miracle on Ice.” Whatever he was in, he made an impression..JPG)
He was born Mladen Sekulovich in 1912 Chicago to a Czech mother and Serbian father, and didn’t speak English until kindergarten. The family moved to Gary, Indiana and after graduating high school Karl went to work in a steel factory. Fed up with the drudgery after three years, he briefly attended Arkansas State Teacher’s College, then Goodman Theater Dramatic School. He went to New York where he joined the Group Theater, a group of actors and directors who were changing the look of Broadway. His debut came in 1937, and caught the attention of up-and-coming director Elia Kazan. After a stint in the service during World War II, he returned to work onstage before transitioning to Hollywood. He always regretted the need to change his name and managed to work his birth name, Sekulovich, into many of his movies.
For 21 years Karl Malden was a spokesman for American Express, and in 1988 was elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a position he held for 5 years. His 71 year marriage was the third longest in Hollywood, behind only Art Linkletter (74 years) and Norman Lloyd (73 years). Karl and his wife, Mona, had two daughters, Mila and Carla. Carla co-authored Karl’s autobiography, “When Do I Start? A Memoir” (pictured above, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997)
Watch him in "Pollyanna" Thursday, July 2nd at 8 a.m. CT on Turner Classic Movies.
Karl Malden
3/22/1912-07/01/2009
“We looked for the good in them, and we found it, didn’t we?”
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
