Karl Malden Dies At 97 On Eve Of Massive Comeback Tour
We honestly don't know how much more of this we can take -- everyone stop dying until after the long weekend. Academy Award winner Karl Malden has passed away today in his Los Angeles home at the age of 97. A member of Lee Strasberg's Group Theater in the '30s, the bulb-nosed, Czech/Serbian actor forged a professional friendship with Elia Kazan there, who would later cast him in 1951's A Streetcar Named Desire (for which he won his Best Supporting Actor Oscar playing Stanley Kowalski's best friend, Mitch) and 1954's On the Waterfront (also nominated, but didn't win). In the '70s, he'd star with Michael Douglas in The Streets of San Francisco (best title sequence ever), and became the foreboding face of your worst European-vacation-theft nightmares as the American Express Travelers Cheques pitchman.
In 1985 he won an Emmy for his work in Fatal Vision, playing the real-life retiree who sought to prove his son-in-law (Gary Cole) had murdered his daughter and grandchildren. Malden is survived by his wife Mona Greenberg -- the two celebrated their 70th anniversary last year, which tied Bob and Dolores Hope's record as Hollywood's longest-married couple -- as well as his two daughters, Mila and Carla, and multiple grandchildren and great grandchildren.
R.I.P. Karl.
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If it had been some other week, he coulda been a contender for the most famous celeb to go.
RIP, Karl.
That's sad news, but you can't say that he didn't have a good long run.
Rest in Peace Karl, you were a class act.
To other celebrities, stop dying for a couple of weeks, please.
How sad I am this evening to hear that my long standing friend of 35 years, Karl Malden has passed away.
He was a terrific person of the screen, I have spent many afternoons
sitting in his home chatting to him, about his movies, and we had wonderful moments bouncing memories of magic moments in his classic array of movies that brought pleasure to me, in my life time.
His wife Mona, was a lovely Lady too, my thoughts go out to her at this time of writing. She always laid on a wonderfull food table,
for Karl & myself on my visits.
God Bless her !! and Karl I hope is up their in Heaven doing his Priest
character... Father Barry... from On the Waterfront.
Rest in Peace .... your the last of the Hollywood greats.
How ironic that Karl's death is eclisped by that self-proclaimed king of pop, as was the other Hollywood (real) folks, like Farrah, and Gale Storm and Ed. Even Billy Mays leaves a bigger dent in most of our lives than Wacko-Jacko did. How sad that this country is "run" by this liberal media that tells us who to love.
How sad that Karl's death is used as a flimsy excuse for the resurrection of another dusty conspiracy theory.
I have to agree with Sadie. Karl Malden was from an era of fine actors that flooded the screen with movies that had something important to say. He was a fine actor and from things said by those that worked with him he was also a good and caring individual. How wonderful for his family that he lived so long. His passing may be overshadowed right now, because it is the young that get caught up in the band wagon of an event like the death of someone else who was young to die. That will pass. And we will still have the wonderful movies that Karl Malden made for a long time I hope. I'm afraid that it is those of us who are a bit older that will remember and appreciate those other greats that passed away this week. And maybe, hopefully, a few of the younger movie buffs too.
Great actor, for On the Waterfront alone. One-Eyed Jacks too. Baby Doll! Loved that TV show when I was a kid. I also learned not to leave home without my American Express card, which I do to this very day.
Massive comeback tour? At 97? What are you doing here -- recycling headlines from previous obits?
Mona always laid on the table for your visits? How very accommodating of her.
Truly sad news.
In the '50s through the '70s Karl Malden was everywhere to be seen.
Is unique and very expressive face made him one of the most recognizable character actor ever.
He could play lovable and neighborly people (How the West Was Won), as well as very nasty and almost sadistic ones (see Birdman of Alcatraz or Cheyenne Autumn).
Actors throughout the world, will certainly miss this gentleman performer.
He is another pillar and ambassador of the glory that was Hollywood, when this name was still a highly respected one, that has fallen.
When will others be able to replace all these giants who have left us?
Can they be replaced?
I don't think so.
All I know is, that for each and everyone of those who have left us, there's a big and vast chasm left behind.
We have to be grateful to all these performers we have learned to admire, love and cheer, for they have given us so much throughout the years and still continue, many years later, through the aid of modern technologies that allow us to "gather" their legacy at home.
For all this and much, much more, live on Karl Malden, among those who you loved and those who have loved you.
Your body is no more, your spirit will live on.