Biography for
Karl Malden

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Date of Birth

22 March 1912, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Birth Name

Mladen Sekulovich

Height

6' 0½" (1.84 m)

Mini Biography

Born to a Czech mother and a Serbian father in Chicago, on March 22, 1912, Karl Malden didn't learn how to communicate a single word of English until he was in kindergarten. Raised in Gary, IN, a medium-sized steel town, Malden--like many other young men in Gary--got a job in a steel factory when he finished school. He worked there for three years until 1934 when, fed up with the drudgery of manual labor, he took a Depression-era gamble and left to follow another goal. After a short time at Arkansas State Teacher's College, he attended the Goodman Theater Dramatic School and never looked back. Three years later he went to New York City to find fame. He rapidly became involved with the Group Theater, an awesome organization of actors/directors who were changing the face of Broadway. Malden's own unforgettable face was shortly in the media when he made his stage debut in 1937. His performance attracted the attention of fledgling director Elia Kazan. With Kazan directing, Karl blazed a trail across the Broadway boards in plays like "All My Sons" by Arthur Miller and "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams. He returned unscathed from duty in the armed services and then immersed himself in his work. Fortunately, his short "vacation" had not harmed his career. From the "Golden Era" of Broadway, he made a transition to the screen, starting with his first appearance in They Knew What They Wanted (1940). Jobs came came and fast, and in 1951 he won the Oscar for his performance as Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). He was showing himself to be a consummate performer, whether tackling roles that had to be delivered with great moral weight or those requiring none whatsoever, like that of Father Corrigan in On the Waterfront (1954) or the Southern lecher Archie Lee in Baby Doll (1956). A later role came as Capt. Wessels, in John Ford's Cheyenne Autumn (1964). The film, Ford's last, was shot in his beloved Monument Valley. Malden found his greatest fame, however, in the early 1970s on the small screen, as Det. Mike Stone in the hit series "The Streets of San Francisco" (1972), co-starring with future movie star Michael Douglas. He came into millions of homes every week for five years. He also became the pitchman for American Express, a position he held for 21 years. The crowning glory of his career was in 1988 when he was elected President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a title he held for five years. Not one to rest on his laurels, Malden recently wrote his memoir entitled, "When Do I Start?: A Memoir."

IMDb Mini Biography By: garyrickii_washtenawcorec@paxemail.com

Mini Biography

Born to a Czech mother and a Serbian father in Chicago as Mladen Sekulovich, on March 22, 1912, Karl Malden did not speak English until he was in kindergarten. After graduating from high school in the nearby steel town of Gary, Indiana, Malden worked in the industry for three years until 1934, when he left to attend the Arkansas State Teacher's College, then the Goodman Theater Dramatic School. Three years later, he went to New York City.

Karl rapidly became involved with the Group Theater, an organization of actors and directors who were changing the face of theater, where he attracted the attention of director Elia Kazan. With Kazan directing, Karl starred in plays such as 'All My Sons' by Arthur Miller and 'A Streetcar Named Desire' by Tennessee Williams.

While Malden had one screen appearance before his military service in World War II, in They Knew What They Wanted (1940), he did not establish his film career until after the War. Malden won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor as Mitch in Streetcar Named Desire, A (1951) and showed his range as an actor in roles such as that of Father Corrigan in On the Waterfront (1954) and the lecher Archie Lee in Baby Doll (1956).

In the early 1970s, he built a television career on the tough but honest screen persona he had created when he starred as Detective Lieutenant Mike Stone in "Streets of San Francisco, The" (1972), co-starring with Michael Douglas. He also became the pitchman for American Express, a position he held for 21 years.

In 1988 he was elected President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a position he held for five years. Following that he published his memoir entitled, "When Do I Start?: A Memoir."

Malden also courted controversy by pushing for a special salute to Elia Kazan at the 1999 Oscars. Malden defended both Kazan and the award, arguing that Kazan's artistic achievements outshone any shame attached to Kazan's naming names before the Congressional committee investigating Communists in Hollywood. Marlon Brando refused to give Kazan the statuette; Robert De Niro ultimately did.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Henry Willis

Spouse

Mona Greenberg

(18 December 1938 - present) 2 children

Trivia

Born Mladen Sekulovich, he always regretted that in order to become an actor, he had to change his name. Since he was proud of his heritage, when he starred in a movie or on TV, he insisted that a character carry his family name: In "On The Waterfront", Fred Gwynne's character was named "Sekulovich".

In 1971, he accepted the Oscar for "Best Director" on behalf of Franklin J. Schaffner, who wasn't present at the awards ceremony

2008 marks the Malden's 70th wedding anniversary making theirs the 2nd longest marriage in Hollywood history surpassing Bob and Delores Hope's 69 yrs., (1934 until his death in 2003) and just behind Norman and Peggy Lloyd, who were wed 2yrs earlier (1936).

Was a close friend of The Magnificent Seven (1960) star Brad Dexter. who was also of Serbian descent.

President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1989 to 1992

Member of the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1963

has two daughters, Mila and Carla. Carla co-authored his autobiography "When Do I Start"

Received both of his Oscar-nominations for movies also starring Marlon Brando.

Personal Quotes

[on his early days] "My father was a milkman. So, I delivered milk."

"I'm a workaholic. I love every movie I've been in, even the bad ones, every TV series, every play, because I love to work. It's what keeps me going."

"People have told me that I came to this industry at its Golden Age. But when I was there, it was just an age."

"I am thrilled to be honored by the Screen Actors Guild because I've been with it for such a long time. The Screen Actors Guild is sort of a highfalutin name for a union, and this union was always wonderful to work for. For the rank-and-file of the union to honor me is the best compliment I can receive."

Salary

Skag (1980) (TV)

$75,000 per 1 hour episode

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