Karl Malden (1912-2009)

His death, at the age of 97, won’t get nearly the attention that Michael Jackson’s got, or perhaps even that Farrah Fawcett’s got, but Karl Malden was truly one of the great American artists of the last century, an exceptional film actor who starred in over 50 movies, including A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 — for which he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor), On the Waterfront (1954 — as in Streetcar, playing opposite one of Marlon Brando’s iconic roles), and Patton (1970 — one of my favourite movies and probably my favourite Malden performance, as Gen. Omar Bradley).

These are three must-see movies — watch them, or re-watch them, and pay close attention to Malden. He rarely dominated a movie, and he usually took a supporting role to a bigger star like Brando or George C. Scott, but he stole scenes and was simply a remarkable presence on screen, even when his characters were decidedly unremarkable, or at least overshadowed by those around them. He was, as one critic put it, “an Everyman, but one whose range moved easily up and down the levels of society and the IQ scale, from heroes to heavies and ordinary, decent guys just trying to get along.” And he did it so well.

Other recommendations: Baby Doll (1956 — written by Tennessee Williams, directed by Elia Kazan, with Malden firmly in a lead role). One-Eyed Jacks (1961 — a western, also with Brando, who also directed), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962 — with Burt Lancaster), Gypsy (1962 — a musical, of all un-Maldenian things, with Rosalind Russell and Natalie Wood), and The Cincinnati Kid (1965 — a Norman Jewison film, with Steve McQueen).

Karl Malden obviously lived a long and successful life. But it’s still sad that he’s gone.

(Cross-posted from The Reaction.)