Remembering Karl Malden – The Common Man’s Hero



2009 July, 2nd
Phil Butler
Phil Butler
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Academy Award and Emmy winning actor Karl Malden died yesterday in his home in Los Angeles at the age of 97. Malden’s acting career spanned 7 decades and included roles in some of the most famous and best loved films of all time. Known for his “working class ” roles and as primarily a supporting actor, Malden became a household name via the popular 70’s TV series The Streets of San Francisco, which co-starred a very young Michael Douglas.

From A Streetcar Named Desire, to Patton, and On the Waterfront, there may have never been a more visible character actor. I remember Karl in so many roles. As a “good guy” or a “bad guy” Malden excelled in capturing the essence of characters. My first memory of him was in a film with Steve McQueen called Nevada Smith, in which Malden played a very bad villain. The Streets of San Francisco was a 60’s TV detective drama in which Malden played the lead, a tough detective named Lt. Mike Stone. The span and depth of Malden’s impact on film and television is simply impossible to cover in a news story. Suffice it to say he was what anyone would consider a consummate professional and a prolific figure in motion pictures.

Malden won an Academy Award in 1951 for his role in A Streetcar Named Desire. He was also nominated in 1954 for On the Waterfront, and director Elia Kazan had this to say of Malden after discovering him on Broadway:

“Here’s a person who can play difficult parts, rough parts, physical parts, who doesn’t get frightened easily, who’s all there when I need him.”

Playing opposite Marlon Brando, according to Kazan, Malden was perhaps the only actor who was not intimidated by the star. Malden’s work ethic and talent was in his toughness in my view, and this showed through in just about everything I ever saw him play in. In Patton, alongside George C. Scott, his portrayal of Omar Bradley appeared as natural as if he were the down to Earth and rugged soldier.

The world does not see that many people come along that have Malden’s “honesty factor”, as I would call it. Others that come to mind are John Wayne, Lee Marvin, the aforementioned Scott and of course Spencer Tracy among others. Though he was never known as a “lead”, this fact never seemed to bother him, and true to his apparent nature, he got the job done with professionalism. I will miss Karl Malden, and our condolences go out to his many friends and family.

Karl Malden in Nevada Smith with Steve McQueen (1966)

About the Author

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Phil Butler is editor-in-chief of Everything PR and senior partner at Pamil Visions PR. He’s a widely cited authority on beta startups, search engines and public relations issues, and he has covered tech news since 2004. Phil wrote in the past for ReadWriteWeb, Mashable, Profy, SitePoint, Search Engine Journal, AltSearchEngines. Follow Phil on Twitter or send him an email at phil [at] pamil-visions [dot] com.

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