Ok, I’m not gonna say anything about MJ…not a peep about Farrah. Ed McMahon — more like Dead McMahon. Billy Mays — we hardly knew ye!
But this one is different. Not because it was unexpected. Actually, for many baby boomers — it might even be regrief. But after 97 years on the planet, actor Karl Malden has shuffled off this mortal coil. The actor (who is probably better known for his role as spokesperson for American Express in the ’70s and ’80s, although I knew him on The Streets of San Francisco) was born Mladen Sekulovich in Gary, Indiana (MJ’s hometown, for what that’s worth) in 1912. His work with Marlon Brando in the ’50s and early ’60s represented some of the two actors’ best work — A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront and Brando’s One-Eyed Jacks, which I recently screened here in Dallas as part of my Cinemania film series.
I had remarked more than once in the past year how remarkable Malden was still with us — and actor with ties to the Golden Era of the Silver Screen. Mr. Sekulovich, thanks for the memories.