Karl Malden

Karl Malden died the other day. He was 97. He was from that era when movies (I hate the more pompous term "films") could be entertaining and artistic. His body of work included The Birdman of Alcatraz, a Streetcar Named Desire, Patton, and my personal favorite, On the Waterfront, in which he played a crusading priest fighting against union corruption among dockworkers.

I don't want to minimize his career. But perhaps his most significant lifetime achievement was working in Hollywood and being married to the same woman for 70 years. A 70-year marriage would be notable anyplace, but Mr. Malden worked in an industry where marriages are sometimes measured in nanoseconds. An industry where some actors approach the altar as a leading man rather than a spouse. Or where some marriages are, like medieval dynasties, made strictly for convenience. 

So it got me to thinking about those celebrities who buck the trend with marriages that last longer than Gunsmoke or CSI. Here's what I've come up with:

• Denzel Washington and wife Paulette-26 years
• Ernie Borgnine and his wife Tora-36 years
• Billy Crystal and Janice-38 years
• Jack LaLanne. fitness guru and wife Elaine-50 years this coming September
• Alan Alda and wife Arlene-51 years
• Jim "Rockford" Garner and wife Lois-52 years
• Jerry Stiller, father of Ben and founder of the Festivus holiday, and his wife and comedy team partner Anne Meara-54 years
• Peter Graves, brother of Gunsmoke's Jim Arness, and wife Joan-58 years

But perhaps the grandaddy of all Hollywood marriages goes to celebrity game show host Art Linkletter and Lois Foerster-his bride of 73 years!

Karl Malden was a close friend of director and producer Elia Kazan, for whom he worked in A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront. In 1952 Kazan testified before the House Un-American Affairs Committee, naming names in the Committee's investigation into Communist influence in the entertainment industry. For that Hollywood elites blackballed him, and he never received the praise he deserved for his professional achievements. Many of their mutual friends also turned their backs on Mr. Malden because of his friendship with the director. Nevertheless, Mr. Kazan and Mr. Malden remained friends until the director's death in 2003. 

In his book, Mr. Malden later explained the relationship, writing that he "never believed that politics had a place in art." Later, as president of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences he led the charge to award Kazan a Oscar for lifetime achievement. "There's no place for politics" in an award like this, he told his peers.

It's a lesson that some of the younger Hollywood stars of today should take to heart.

Just thought you might like to know.