Karl Malden Biography

Fast Facts

• Holds an honorary doctor degree in fine arts from Emporia State University and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Valparaiso University
• Became the 40th recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2004 for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment
• Worked in a steel mill for three years before leaving to study at the Goodman School of Drama, and had to work as a milkman to raise the funds to move to New York after graduating
• Quote: "People have told me that I came to this industry at its Golden Age․ But when I was there, it was just an age․"
• Known for playing everything from heroes to ordinary men who the audience could relate to
• Worked as a talented and versatile character actor much more often than a leading man, and was best known as a commercial pitchman for American Express, a position he held for 20 years
• Unhappy that he had to change his name to make it as an actor, he insisted that every movie or television show he starred in contained a character with his family name, "Sekulovich․"
• Asked Humphrey Bogart to watch his coat when he went on stage to receive his Oscar for "A Streetcar Named Desire" in 1952
• Played basketball in high school, and twice broke his nose while playing sports as a teen
• Served as the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1989 to 1992