Karl Malden, b.1912 - d.2009

Academy Award-winning actor Karl Malden died today at his home in Los Angeles. He was 97.

Mr. Malden was born Mladen Sekulovich on March 22, 1912, in Chicago and grew up in Gary, Ind. His father was a Serb who worked in the steel mills and as a milkman, and his Czech mother was a seamstress.

A high school basketball star, Mr. Malden yearned for an athletic college scholarship, but was turned down for refusing to play anything except basketball. He worked at the mills, finding time for amateur theater. Envisioning his name in lights, he shortened it by switching around the letters of his first name and making it his last and co-opting his uncle's given name. Later on, when he played the priest in "On the Waterfront," he insisted that Fred Gwynne's character be named Sekulovich to honor his original name.

Mr. Malden studied at the Goodman Theater in Chicago. He made his Broadway debut in 1937 and joined the Group Theatre where he met Elia Kazan, who would eventually direct him in "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "On the Waterfront."

Mr. Malden put his career on hold to serve in the 8th Air Force during World War II.

Rest in peace.