Karl Malden, an Oscar winner for playing a cuckold husband in A Streetcar Named Desire, died today at his Brentwood, Cal. home at age 97.

Malden was also nominated for an Academy Award for playing a tough-as-nails priest steering Marlon Brando to do the right thing in On the Waterfront.

Other film roles included portraying Gen. Omar Bradley opposite Oscar winner George C. Scott in Patton, dealing cards to Steve McQueen in The Cincinnati Kid, and a warden reluctantly allowing Burt Lancaster to become the Birdman of Alcatraz. Malden was the go-to everyman for the finest directors of the mid-20th century, with a distinctively misshapen nose as his trademark.

For all his fine films and performances, Malden may be best known to audiences for his television work, including a series of American Express commercials ("Don't leave home without it.") that in turn was based on his role as a streetwise cop patrolling The Streets of San Francisco with then-young Michael Douglas.

Find more details on Malden's career at this link to the Los Angeles Times story.