Karl Malden, the Oscar-winning actor with a bulbous nose who parlayed his immigrant roots into gritty roles in some of Hollywood's classic films, died yesterday at the age of 97.

His agent said the actor, who had been in failing health in recent years, died of natural causes in his sleep at his home in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles.

Malden, the son of a Czech mother and Serbian father, worked for a time in the steel mills of Gary, Indiana — the same industrial town where Michael Jackson was later born.

Often playing working class characters, he went on to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1951 for his role as Blanche DuBois’ naive suitor in A Streetcar Named Desire, alongside Marlon Brando.

He was nominated for an Oscar again three years later for his performance as Father Corrigan, the fearless priest in another Brando film, On the Waterfront.

Malden's more than 50 films included Patton, in which he played Gen Omar Bradley, One-Eyed Jacks, The Cincinnati Kid and the Birdman of Alcatraz.

He became embroiled in controversy for Baby Doll, a Tennessee Williams story about a husband who allows his child bride to be exploited by a businessman. The film was condemned by the Catholic Legion for Decency for its "carnal suggestiveness".

Malden became well known to another generation for his role as a detective opposite younger partner Michael Douglas in the TV series The Streets of San Francisco from 1972 to 1976.

"He's my mentor," Douglas later said. "You know why Marlon Brando loved to work with him? Because he was so giving as an actor."

Also at that time, Malden began a 21-year stint moonlighting as a pitch-man for American Express travellers cheques. He earned himself a place in popular culture with the tag line: "Don't leave home without them."

Malden's trademark was his bulbous nose, which he had broken twice while playing sport at school.

He was keenly aware he lacked the matinee idol looks of a Hollywood leading man.

"There were times when certain leads would come along, and I'd say, 'Gee, I could do that,'" he once said. "But ... you've got to have a great nose. You've got to have great eyes. Everything that an actor has to have to be that leading man, I don't have. So I made the best with what I had."

Malden wrote an autobiography, When Do I Start?, that was acclaimed as one of the best by an actor. But he seldom appeared before the camera in recent years, although he did appear in a small role on the TV political drama West Wing in 2000.

He took an often-unpopular stance in Hollywood by standing by his friend, On the Waterfront director Elia Kazan, who had named names before the House Un-American Activities Committee during the McCarthy era.

In 1999, he nominated Kazan for a controversial lifetime achievement Oscar, which was awarded over the protests of many Hollywood luminaries angry at Kazan’s betrayal.

Malden was born Mladen Sekulovich in Chicago on March 22, 1912 and did not speak English until he went to nursery school. He said he later regretted that he had to change his name to become an actor. To honour his heritage, he insisted that Fred Gwynne's character in On the Waterfront be named Sekulovich.

His family moved to Gary when he was small and he remained there until he quit his steel mill job in 1934 to try acting.

"When I told my father, he said, 'Are you crazy? You want to give up a good job in the middle of the Depression?' Thank God for my mother. She said to give it a try," he once recalled.

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