The celebrity deaths keep on happening, which makes me hope that Death takes a holiday at least over the 4th of July weekend. Yesterday we lost actor and baritone singer Harve Presnell, who is best remembered nowadays for playing William H. Macy’s father-in-law in Fargo, and now today we say goodbye to Karl Malden, who won a supporting actor Oscar for A Streetcar Named Desire, which was one of his four collaborations with director Elia Kazan. He was also Oscar-nominated for his performance in Kazan’s On the Waterfront.

Other memorable film appearances include roles in Gypsy, Patton, How the West Was Won, Birdman of Alcatraz, I Confess, Pollyanna and One-Eyed Jacks, directed by his occasional costar Marlon Brando. He also starred on TV’s The Streets of San Francisco. My favorite of his movies is Baby Doll because his character was one of the first I’d encountered where I wasn’t sure if I should like him or hate him. Ultimately I sympathized with him over his rival in the film, played by Eli Wallach, simply because I grew up loving Malden and his big bulbous nose. Plus, between Waterfront and Pollyanna, as a kid I always associated Malden with good, religious roles. Even though he hadn’t worked in years, his passing today marks quite a significant loss for both cinema and television.

Check out other film blogs’ tributes to the great actor after the jump:

• Anne Thompson at Thompson on Hollywood recognizes his dominant likability:
  

  While he played his share of villains, he was known for his decency, finally. He represented something good in all of us…We should all wish to generate such respect and affection, and live so long.

• Bob Westal at Premium Hollywood recognizes his status and quality as an actor:
  

  Karl Malden never got quite the same level of attention as costars like Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh, Steve McQueen, Anthony Perkins, Montgomery Clift, Michael Caine, and George C. Scott…That was largely because Malden was the kind of performer who understood that acting is a team sport. His best scenes were like great duets with near perfect communication between him and his scene partners. The exception were American Express travelers’ checks; those, he wiped off the screen.

• Beaks at Aint It Cool News celebrates his longevity:
  

  You can’t do ninety-seven years much better than Karl Malden…I think we can safely say Karl Malden made the best of his time on this planet.

• John Farr at The Huffington Post considers the timeliness of Malden’s death:
  

  It’s sad and scary both to say goodbye to you, because you represented the last man standing from a period in film-making whose like we won’t see again.

  As we celebrate the Fourth, we should think of you, since you represented all the best possibilities of being American : a young immigrant, full of promise, who found identity and success in the new world.

• Dennis McLellan at the LA Times addresses Malden’s distinct schnoz:
  

  With his unglamorous mug — he broke his bulbous nose twice playing sports as a teenager — the former Indiana steel-mill worker realized early on the course his acting career would take.

  “I was so incredibly lucky,” Malden once told The Times. “I knew I wasn’t a leading man. Take a look at this face.” But, he vowed as a young man, he wasn’t going to let his looks hamper his ambition to succeed as an actor.

• Jeffrey Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere recalls some favorite Malden moments:
  

  [In Waterfront] I love Malden’s frustrating third-act moment with Brando in the Hoboken bar when he yells at the bartender, “Gimme a beer!” And his line to Eva Marie Saint in the beginning: “You think I’m just a gravy-train rider with a turned-around collar…don’t you? Don’t you? (Pause) I see the sisters taught you not to lie.”

  In Streetcar Malden says to Vivien Leigh, “I was fool enough to believe you were straight.” And she answers “Straight? What’s ’straight’? A line can be straight, or a street. But the heart of a human being?”

  I love the One-Eyed Jacks moment when the hog-tied Brando spits in Malden’s face just before being bull-whipped on Main Street; ditto Brando’s faking Malden out in the final shoot out, running and diving into the dust and shooting Malden in the back three times.

• Kristopher Tapley at In Contention could go on and on, but holds back:
  

  Too many films to recount, too many great pieces of acting to list.  “On the Waterfront,” “Baby Doll,” “Cheyenne Autumn,” an impressive TV streak in “Streets of San Francisco.”  I’ll always remember “Streetcar.”  He was 97.  Now that’s a life.

• Craig Kennedy at Living in Cinema primarily remembers Malden from television:
  

  I knew Karl Malden first as the guy from the American Express commercials in the 1970s, but he’ll probably always be best known as Lt. Mike Stone on TV’s The Streets of San Francisco which ran from 1972 – 1977.

• Andrew O’Hehir at Beyond the Multiplex also remembers the TV stuff first:
  

  For someone of my generation, Malden will always be identified with Lt. Mike Stone of the long-running 1970s TV series “The Streets of San Francisco” (whose sidekick was played by Michael Douglas). For younger viewers, I guess he’ll always be the “Don’t leave home without it” guy from more than 20 years of American Express commercials…Go in peace, Sekulovich. I don’t think they take American Express cards where you’re going. Just this once, it was OK to leave home without it.

• David Poland at The Hot Blog recalls a recent tribute from Malden’s TV costar:
  

  …it was Michael Douglas’ tribute and love for Karl Malden that most strongly resonated. He spoke of feeling like Malden’s son and wishing that he could, indeed, be adopted by his second father. At an age at which he was trying to break away from his parent/legend, he was shown the showbiz ropes by Malden.

• Seth Abramovitch at Movieline spotlights Malden’s rare marital achievement:
  

  Malden is survived by his wife Mona Greenberg — the two celebrated their 70th anniversary last year, which tied Bob and Dolores Hope’s record as Hollywood’s longest-married couple…

Now for some clips:

• Todd at IDon’tLikeYouInThatWay.com shares this scene from Streetcar:

• The Moviezzz Blog presents a clip from Gypsy:

• Noel Murray at A.V. Club highlights a montage of his AmEx spots: