Karl Malden: The one and only "Mitch" in A Streetcar Named Desire.

In a summer shaping up to bear more than it's expected share of celebrity deaths, when someone Karl Malden's age passes on it shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Still, his caught me off guard, just the same.

Malden was a member of that small handful of actors that helped shape American cinema as we know it today.

True, most of them are gone, but their brand of passionate realism really changed what it meant to be a film actor, leaving behind a legacy of work still as strong and memorable today as it was years ago.

He infused his characters with integrity, strength and a unique "every man's" vulnerability which drew the audience in whenever he was on screen.

It's impossible not to think of Malden's trademark voice and intensity in the legendary American films, A Streetcar Named Desire, or On The Waterfront.

Below is a scene with Malden as "Mitch" and Vivian Leigh as "Blanche" from A Streetcar Named Desire.

It's really "Blanche's" scene, but Malden is a smoldering presence, equally as riveting and intense as Leigh's Blanche. Perhaps, even more so.

It exemplifies his talent for scene stealing simply by listening to actors up there with him.


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A great American actor. RIP.