Oct. 2, 1964 - An Oscar-winning Hollywood actor has decided to become a teacher between movie assignments, to “beat the boredom of Hollywood and re-establish touch with reality.”
Karl Malden recently returned from his initial one-month teaching stint at Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia, and he is planning to teach at Eastern New Mexico State Teachers College. “I’ll teach any place that will have me,” he said.
Malden has no shortage of movie jobs, but he says he dreads the gap between pictures — a pause that may run up to four months. Therefore, after finishing his role in “Cheyenne Autumn,” Malden accepted an invitation to teach a dramatic class at Kansas State. Emporia was his wife’s hometown, and he knew some people at the college.
“I thought it was a great idea at first, but when I finally arrived on campus, I was scared to death,” he says. “I had never taught before and am not exactly professorial.”
The actor, whose real name is Mladen Sekulovich, was a steelworker in Gary, Ind., before he became an actor. His own career as a college student lasted only three months.
The enthusiasm of the students at Emporia quickly cured his stage fright, Malden reports. “They were responsive and eager to learn.” Most of the students were schoolteachers or aspiring teachers who had a special interest in English and drama.
Malden, who will shortly start work in a picture called “The Cincinnati Kid,” said he believed professionals in the theater should try to build a “bridge between the theatrical world and the world at large.”
“That’s one reason I want to take these teaching jobs twice a year or so,” said Malden, whose pictures have included “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “Baby Doll,” and “On the Waterfront.”
“Besides,” he said, “an actor can go crazy in Hollywood.”
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