Mr. Malden was known for his fussy preparation, studying a lay out carefully hunger before he stepped into his role. "I not only idol out my own diagnosis of the role, but examine to guesswork other approaches that the number one might like,’’ he said in a 1962 Associated Press interview. "I provide for them, too.
That way, I can direct in the waist of a segment with no sweat.’’ "There’s no such predilection as an easy job, not if you do it right,’’ he added. Mr. Malden was born Mladen Sekulovich in Chicago.
He regretted that to become an actor he had to variation his name. He insisted that Fred Gwynne’s hieroglyph in "On the Waterfront’’ be named Sekulovich to honor his heritage. The line moved to Gary, Ind., when he was small.
He released his blade activity 1934 to library acting at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre "because I wasn’t getting anywhere in the mills,’’ he recalled. "When I told my father, he said: ‘Are you crazy? You want to give up a esteemed berth in the stomach of the Depression?’ Thank God for my mother. She said to give it a try.’’ Mr. Malden and his wife, Mona, a customer acting devotee at the Goodman, had one of Hollywood’s longest marriages, having prominent their 70th anniversary in December. Besides his wife, Mr. Malden leaves his daughters Mila and Cara, three granddaughters, and four great grandchildren.
