On July 1st, another inspiring artist died. Karl Malden was 97 years old! I first saw Karl as Father Barry in On the Waterfront, and just had to see more. As I saw A Streetcar Named Desire (for which he won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar), One-Eyed Jacks, Patton, How The West Was Won, of course I marvelled at how Marlon Brando was single-handedly re-inventing film acting, but Karl kept pace with his own captivating performances. As I was introduced to Karl as Marlon's supporting actor, I think I'll have a hard time not thinking of Marlon when I think of Karl. I think what impresses me most about Karl though is that I can hardly think of Marlon without Karl. Like Karl was Pippen to Marlon's Jordan. They belong in the same sentence. Weak analogy, I know--but Karl deserves every accolade he's received (including, most impressive in my mind, the Screen Actor's Guild Life Achievement Award). Also, he and I have the same birthday (March 22). His was 73 years before mine, but I still think it's cool.
So I still can't figure out how to embed youtube videos on this site, so I'll just post up this link to one of my favorite Malden scenes, this one near the climax of On the Waterfront. Enjoy. Thanks for the inspiration, Karl!
