Karl Malden – An Annotated Bibliography

Karl Malden was one of America’s greatest actors, and truly changed the face of modern cinema. His incredible talent as an actor will surely be missed the world over. Malden was a star before Hollywood had even heard of the likes of Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, or George Clooney, and in many ways, embodied the spirit of film as an art form in ways unique to himself.

Karl Malden was born in 1940 in Chicago, Illinois, and was born under the name Mladen Sekulovich. He changed his name to Karl Malden at the age of 22 due to his employer (the first theatre company Malden worked for) requesting a shorter name for the billet. After a short stint working in steel mills, Malden attended the Chicago Art Institute in 1937, and graduated with no money or work.

Malden made his screen debut in the 1940s film They Knew What They Wanted: a film about an eldery Italian vinter living in California’s Napa Valley. Malden’s big break came in the form of the Marlin Brando film A Streetcar Named Desire, based on the play of the same name. Malden won his first academy award for his performance in Streetcar, for best supporting actor.

Malden went on to star in the later Brando film On the Waterfront (1954) famous for its winning of 8 academy awards, including best picture. Malden later starred in many other films throughout the 1950s-’70s, including  Fear Strikes Out (1957), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) and the world famous gambling favourite, The Cincinatti Kid (1965) where he played Shooter: the best friend of Steve McQueen’s character Eric “The Kid,” and immortalized the lines “Look, you’re just cheating yourself, don’t you understand? You’ll be the loser, no one else but yourself!”

Malden also acted for TV later in his career. He played Lt. Micheal Stone in the series The Streets of San Fransisco: a detective crime series that aired on ABC. Malden is also notable for being one of the first American Express spokesmen on television, uttering the famous commercial phrase “Don’t leave home without it!”

Malden died on July 1, 2009 at the age of 97. Through his work as an actor in both film and television, he forever changed our views of his characters archetypes. He will be missed, but his work will continue to woo audiences for years to come.