Karl Malden, the Oscar- and Emmy-winning character actor who was best known over his six-decade career as the star of TV series "The Streets of San Francisco" and a series of American Express commercials, died of natural causes Wednesday at his home in Brentwood, Calif. He was 97.

Tall and heavyset, Malden was highly regarded for his versatility. He excelled at roles with an Everyman quality such as Mitch, the naive suitor of Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire." He originated the role on Broadway and won a supporting actor Oscar for Elia Kazan's 1951 film adaptation. Though he was nominated for each of the five seasons of "Streets of San Francisco," in which he starred opposite a young Michael Douglas, Malden won his Emmy for the 1984 miniseries "Fatal Vision." Douglas considered Malden to be his "true mentor" as an actor. Douglas made a point of saluting his longtime friend, calling him a "caring, thorough and generous teacher" while accepting the AFI Life Achievement Award on June 11.

"Karl more than anyone got me to understand that an actor is just one of a whole team that makes a TV series or movie work," Douglas said. "Thanks to him, I learned about the dichotomy of standing alone in a craft where one must collaborate."

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81st Academy Award Winners



Slumdog Millionaire took home eight Oscars last night including Best Picture and Best Director but no acting awards. Kate Winslet and Penelope Cruz won Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. Sean Penn upset favorite Mickey Rourke to win Best Actor. The Oscar for Best Supporting Actor went to Heath Ledger for his performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight. Heath's parents and sister accepted the Oscar on his behalf. One of the most unique highlights of the evening was when Philippe Petit balanced on Oscar on his chin. Here's a list of the winners:

• Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
• Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader
• Actor: Sean Penn, Milk
• Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
• Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
• Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
• Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black, Milk
• Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
• Original Score: A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire
• Animated Film: WALL-E
• Short Animated Film: La Maison En Petite Cubes
• Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Costume Design: The Duchess
• Makeup: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire
• Live Action Short Film: Spielzeugland (Toyland)
• Original Song: A.R. Rahman and Gulzar, Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire
• Documentary: Man on Wire
• Documentary, Short Subjects: Smile Pinki
• Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Sound Editing: The Dark Knight
• Sound Mixing: Slumdog Millionaire
• Film Editing: Slumdog Millionaire
• Foreign Film: Departures (Japan)

You can see a list of the nominees here.

Photo © A.M.P.A.S.

Posted on February 23, 2009
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2007 Oscar Winners List

Here is the list of the Oscar award winners for the 79th annual Academy Awards. It was a big night for The Departed which won four awards including Best Picture. One of The Departed's Oscars went to Martin Scorsese who finally won a much deserved Oscar for Best Director. Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth also had a big night winning two awards: one for Best Documentary and one for Original Song.

Best Picture: The Departed (Warner Bros.) Graham King, Producer

Best Director: Martin Scorsese, The Departed (Warner Bros.)

Best Actor: Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland (Fox Searchlight)

Best Actress: Helen Mirren in The Queen (Miramax, Pathe and Granada)

Best Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine (Fox Searchlight)

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls (DreamWorks and Paramount)

Best Original Screenplay: Little Miss Sunshine (Fox Searchlight) Written by Michael Arndt

Best Adapated Screenplay: The Departed (Warner Bros.) Screenplay by William Monahan

Best Animated Film: Happy Feet (Warner Bros.) George Miller

Art Direction: Pan's Labyrinth (Picturehouse)

Cinematography: Pan's Labyrinth (Picturehouse) Guillermo Navarro

Costume Design: Marie Antoinette (Sony Pictures Releasing) Milena Canonero

Best Documentary: An Inconvenient Truth (Paramount Classics and Participant Productions) A Lawrence Bender/Laurie David, Production Davis Guggenheim

Best Short Documentary: The Blood of Yingzhou District A Thomas Lennon Films Production, Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon

Film Editing: The Departed (Warner Bros.) Thelma Schoonmaker

Best Foreign Language Film: The Lives of Others A Wiedemann & Berg Production, Germany

Best Makeup: Pan's Labyrinth (Picturehouse) David Martí and Montse Ribe

Original Score: "Babel" from Babel (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Gustavo Santaolalla

Original Song: "I Need to Wake Up" from An Inconvenient Truth Music and Lyric by Melissa Etheridge

Best Animated Short: The Danish Poet (National Film Board of Canada) A Mikrofilm and National Film Board of Canada, Production Torill Kove

Best Live Action Short: West Bank Story, An Ari Sandel, Pascal Vaguelsy, Amy Kim, Ravi Malhotra and Ashley Jordan Production

Sound Editing: Letters from Iwo Jima (Warner Bros.) Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman

Sound Mixing: Dreamgirls (DreamWorks and Paramount) Michael Minkler, Bob Beemer and Willie Burton

Visual Effects: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (Buena Vista) John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and Allen Hall

Posted on February 26, 2007
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