The Famous Actor and Academy Award Winner Karl Malden Dead At 97

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Karl Malden, the Academy Award-winning actor whose intelligent characterizations on stage, screen and television made him a star despite his plain looks. Karl Malden died on Wednesday, his family said. Karl Malden was 97.

Karl Malden died of natural causes surrounded by his family at his Brentwood home, they told the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Karl Malden served as the academy’s president from 1989-92.

“Karl Malden lived a rich, full life,” Academy president Sid Ganis said. “Karl Malden has the greatest and most loving family, a career that has spanned the spectrum of the arts from theater to film and television, to some very famous commercial work.”

While Karl Malden tackled a variety of characters over the years, Karl Malden was often seen in working-class garb or military uniform. His authenticity in grittier roles came naturally: Karl Malden was the son of a Czech mother and a Serbian father, and worked for a time in the steel mills of Gary, Ind., after dropping out of college.

Karl Malden said he got his celebrated bulbous nose when he broke it a couple of times playing basketball or football, joking that he was “the only actor in Hollywood whose nose qualifies him for handicapped parking.” He liked to say he had “an open-hearth face.”

Karl Malden won a supporting actor Oscar in 1951 for his role as Blanche DuBois’ naive suitor Mitch in “A Streetcar Named Desire” a role Karl Malden also played on Broadway.

Karl Malden was nominated again as best supporting actor in 1954 for his performance as Father Corrigan, a fearless, friend-of-the-workingman priest in “On the Waterfront.” In both movies. Karl Malden costarred with Marlon Brando.

“When you worked with him, Karl Malden was the character,” said Eva Marie Saint, who garnered a supporting actress Oscar for her role in “Waterfront.” “Karl Malden was the consummate actor and he loved acting. Karl Malden was dear and smart. Whatever Karl Malden did he enjoyed life.”

Tags: karl malden dead, carl malden, karl malden movies, karl malden bio, mona greenberg