Birdman of Alcatraz News

San Francisco is one of my favorite cities. It is lively and cosmopolitan, but it has a certain laid-back charm that I love.

Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary accepted its first prisoners 75 years ago today. Alcatraz is a 22-acre rock island in San Francisco Bay, 1½ miles from shore.

Burt Lancaster portrays Robert Stroud, a man twice convicted of murder who becomes an expert in the science of birds during his 53 years in solitary confinement in the 1962 movie "Birdman of Alcatraz" . Karl Malden and Telly Savalas also star.

Barry Murphy returns once more trawl the TV and radio guides to find anything worth tuning into this week.

Published: Thursday, July 16, 2009 at 3:30 a.m. Last Modified: Thursday, July 16, 2009 at 12:01 a.m. Amid the apotheosis of Michael Jackson and the death of Farrah Fawcett, another Hollywood obituary was largely lost in the shuffle: Karl Malden, who died quietly July 1 at the age of 97.

There are less than 12 hours to go before the 24 hour TCM marathon begins . The day starts at 6:45 AM with The Roaring Twenties .

"Music and Lyrics" : If you didn't catch this in the theaters, you missed Hugh Grant's truly sublime '80s-era video for "Pop Goes My Heart." Hugh is on keyboards.

With the spate of recent celebrity deaths, last week's passing of 97-year-old Karl Malden almost slipped through unnoticed.

You can see Malden, center, with Lee J. Cobb, and Eva Marie Saint in On The Waterfront on the Turner Classic Movies cable channel Friday at 8 p.m. A younger generation who knew Karl Malden for his co-starring role on the TV series The Streets of San Francisco, and later for a series of credit card commercials, may be surprised to learn that in the ...

If you didn't know already, Karl Malden's real name was Mladen Sekulovich. And whenever possible, he tried to work that name into his dialogue in various movies.

He starred in Disney's POLLYANNA , with Natalie Wood in BOMBERS B-52 and GYPSY .

Karl Malden, a former steelworker who won an Oscar for his role as Mitch in the 1951 classic "A Streetcar Named Desire," died Wednesday, July 1, 2009.

Sad news from California: The great Karl Malden has died at the remarkable age of 97.

He was nobody's idea of an attractive man, but he didn't play a lot of heavies in his career.

Five years ago, Karl Malden told me he wanted to remind everyone that he did far more than those American Express commercials.

Karl Malden, the Academy Award-winning actor whose intelligent characterizations on stage, screen and television made him a star despite his plain looks, died Wednesday, his family said.

Oscar-winning actor Karl Malden, known for his distinctive nose and roles opposite Marlon Brando in "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "On The Waterfront," has died, officials said Wednesday.

James Stewart and Kim Novak in a scene from the movie "Vertigo". Looking for trouble? You'll find it everywhere this week - at least if you start the search at your local arthouse.

The following are capsule reviews of theatrical movies on network and cable television the week of April 26.