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Karl Malden and the written word
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Photo: Simon & Schuster
Karl Malden, the Academy Award winning actor and former President of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Science passed away today at age 97. Malden had a long and impressive career, starring with some of the most acclaimed performers and directors of our times – Marlon Brando, George C. Scott, Vivian Leigh, Burt Lancaster and Elia Kazan to name a few. Malden may be best known for his American Express commercials that featured the catch line, “Don’t leave home without it.” In 2008, Malden and his wife Mona celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.
Malden published his autobiography in 1997, “When Do I Start,” co-written with his daughter Carla. The book was not the typical tell all, but emphasizes acting techniques and methods. Malden was an alum of the Strassburg school of method acting. Copies of the book are still available on line.
Also in print is On the Waterfront: The Pulitzer Prize-Winning Articles That Inspired the Classic Film and Transformed the New York Harbor (Chamberlain Brothers, 2005), a compilation of Malcolm Johnson’s 1948 N.Y. Sun articles about corruption in the New York waterfront that brought him a Pulitzer Prize and led to the movie “On The Waterfront.” Johnson’s writing depicted the waterfront as an outlaw frontier run by organized crime. Those with a penchant for the Mafia will find Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello and Meyer Lansky all playing a role in the goings on at the Harbor and the Longshoreman’s Union.
Tennessee Williams classic, “Streetcar Named Desire,” is a tale of lust, betrayal and the changing South. This play is available in print everywhere. Although the play itself is fascinating, it is the life that the actors, especially those in Elia Kazan’s film adaptation of the play, that truly make the work. Malden’s collaboration with Brando and Leigh created a memorable landmark in both American stage and film.
Malden also starred in the Disney version of Pollyanna. The classic children’s book, written by Eleanor Hodgman Porter, first published in 1913 remains in print. Pollyanna, an adventurous girl with a positive outlook influences all those she comes into contact with. It remains a charming, near timeless book for the younger set.
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