# Karl Malden dies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 1, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-malden-dies/501621 "2009-07-01T19:53:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-malden-dies/501621/21 "2009-07-01T22:38:55Z")
I loved him in _A Streetcar Named Desire_ and _Patton_, too. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-malden-dies/501621/22 "2009-07-01T23:07:03Z")
> [@KRM](#): > > I had no idea he was still alive. “The Streets of San Francisco” was quite some time ago and he didn’t exactly look like a spring chicken then. > > RIP Lt. Stone. Yeah, another one here who thought he’d died years ago! ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-malden-dies/501621/23 "2009-07-01T23:28:49Z")
Being a young’un I didn’t know who Malden was at first, but after a little searching I discovered he was in one of my favorite scenes on [The West Wing.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX6wOOJy0hk) At 97 I’m sure God wasn’t all that surprised to see him today. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-malden-dies/501621/24 "2009-07-02T00:23:39Z")
One of the interesting things about him is that, since his rreal name was **Mladen Sekulevich** , he tried to get his own names into films. Quoth the IMDb: > [@](#): > > 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 (1954), Fred Gwynne’s character was named “Sekulovich”. I’d heard that in **Patton** , the soldier Malden ( as Omar Bradley) borrows a helmet from after he loses his own was “Mladen”. ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-malden-dies/501621/25 "2009-07-02T00:30:05Z")
Also, second of Gary, Indiana’s famous scions to die within a week > **[Oscar-winning actor Karl Malden dead at 97 - CNN.com](https://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/07/01/karl.malden.obit/index.html)** > > Veteran actor Karl Malden, who won an Academy Award for his role in "A Streetcar Named Desire," has died at age 97, his manager said Wednesday. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-malden-dies/501621/26 "2009-07-02T01:15:23Z")
Last time I saw him- a couple of years ago or so on an interview program- I was amazed at how “the same” he looked and sounded as he always had. Apparently his 90s were mostly relatively good years. Anyway, RIP. I guess that leaves Gloria Stuart to go for the celebrity centenarian crown. Last I heard she was doing well enough and she turns 99 this week. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-malden-dies/501621/27 "2009-07-02T01:58:25Z")
I have met very few movie stars in person, but I did meet him (in SF) a few years ago and he was incredibly nice and gracious. RIP. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-malden-dies/501621/28 "2009-07-02T02:02:54Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > One of the interesting things about him is that, since his rreal name was **Mladen Sekulevich** , he tried to get his own names into films. > > I’d heard that in **Patton** , the soldier Malden ( as Omar Bradley) borrows a helmet from after he loses his own was “Mladen”. [Ebert](http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090701/PEOPLE/907019997) says: **"As an in-joke, he succeeded in working the name Mladen Sekulovich into the screenplays of “On the Waterfront,” “Birdman of Alcatraz,” “Fear Strikes Out,” and “Patton,” in which he played Gen. Omar Bradley. In the popular TV series “The Streets of San Francisco, his character employed an assistant with the name.”** RIP, Mladen. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-malden-dies/501621/29 "2009-07-02T02:59:49Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > [Ebert](http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090701/PEOPLE/907019997) says: **"As an in-joke, he succeeded in working the name Mladen Sekulovich into the screenplays of “On the Waterfront,” “Birdman of Alcatraz,” “Fear Strikes Out,” and “Patton,” in which he played Gen. Omar Bradley. In the popular TV series “The Streets of San Francisco, his character employed an assistant with the name.”** > > RIP, Mladen. ☹ In his first scene in “Patton,” he says to a private, “HAnd me those field glasses, Sekulavich.” He was always finding ways to mention that name. In the short-lived TV drama “Skag,” he played the foreman at a steel mill in Western Pennsylvania. I remember a scene where he was yelling, “Listen, Sekulavich, I’ve had enough of your goofing off! Get to work!” ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-malden-dies/501621/30 "2009-07-02T03:04:05Z")
> [@Jihi](#): > > Being a young’un I didn’t know who Malden was at first, but after a little searching I discovered he was in one of my favorite scenes on [The West Wing.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX6wOOJy0hk) Damn it. Now I just spent 30 minutes looking a clips from the West Wing. Thanks a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-malden-dies/501621/31 "2009-07-02T03:12:17Z")
> [@Frostillicus](#): > > Damn it. Now I just spent 30 minutes looking a clips from the West Wing. Thanks a lot. My pleasure. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-malden-dies/501621/32 "2009-07-02T05:39:32Z")
RIP, Karl. I suggest that we start titling any new death threads (for the next few weeks) as: “Summer 2009 Celebrity Deathwatch: Name”. I know he was 97, but still, this shit is getting ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-malden-dies/501621/33 "2009-07-02T05:52:37Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > RIP And thanks for the AQMP\* memories. > > [\* > [Heavy voice] > A Queen Martin Production.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F0wlfmxKdU) That’s **Quinn Martin**. Although in San Francisco the error is understandable. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-malden-dies/501621/34 "2009-07-03T03:48:42Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I guess that leaves Gloria Stuart to go for the celebrity centenarian crown. Last I heard she was doing well enough and she turns 99 this week. And Olivia de Havilland just turned 93 on Wednesday. Go Olivia! ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-malden-dies/501621/35 "2009-07-03T10:26:08Z")
Although I have met many celebrities, my only sighting of Karl Malden was in a large hotel in LA - it was a meeting of the members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science regarding the upcoming Oscar telecast that year (1993? 1994? I forget.). I believe he was head of the organization at that time. I saw the small sign near a conference room and stood quietly behind the door and was able to listen in a bit. Thought I would get great tidbits to relate to friends - but from my evil eavesdropping, all I heard was tidbits from a very boring meeting about stuff that was so uninteresting that I didn’t remember what I heard five minutes later. Karl was going through the agenda and it was pretty much like any meeting - boring - but it was kinda cool to hear him talk. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-malden-dies/501621/36 "2009-07-03T22:10:57Z")
Gee, I missed this. I only really remember him from "The Streets of San Francisco (and those AmEx commercials). I remember a young actor named Michael Douglas starting his career on that show. He’s achieved some fame of his own. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/karl-malden-dies/501621.md?page=1)