Karl Malden

A forceful and dynamic star of stage, film and television for over six decades, Karl Malden was an Academy Award-winning actor who found fame in the 1950s and 1960s in a wide variety of character roles and the occasional lead. An exceptionally versatile performer, he could play all points on the moral compass with unwavering verisimilitude. Audiences believed him as both the lovelorn Mitch in "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951) and the forthright Father Barry in "On the Waterfront" (1954) and as the lustful husband of a teenage bride in "Baby Doll" (1956) or as the tongue-in-cheek super-villain Julian Wells in "Murderers' Row" (1966). He shifted his attention to television in the 1970s and scored a sizable hit with "The Streets of San Francisco" (ABC, 1972-77) while lending his credibility to countless commercials for American Express. Well-respected by his peers in the industry, he also served as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1989 to 1993.