Karl Malden, seen here circa 1950, died on Wednesday at the age of 97. (Associated Press)

Karl Malden, one of Hollywood's strongest supporting actors, died at his Los Angeles home on Wednesday. He was 97.

His death was announced by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, of which he was president from 1989 to 1992.

Malden's screen credits include How the West Was Won and Birdman of Alcatraz (both 1962), and Patton (1970).

He won an Oscar for best supporting actor for his portrayal of Blanche's earnest suitor, Mitch, in the 1951 screen adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire. He had previously played the part on Broadway.

He was nominated for another Oscar in 1954 for his role as a priest in On the Waterfront.

He successfully made the transition to television, and his role of Lt. Mike Stone on the ABC police drama The Streets of San Francisco, which ran from 1972 to 1977, earned him four consecutive Emmy nominations as lead actor in a drama series.

He finally won an Emmy for outstanding supporting actor in a limited series or special as a man who begins to suspect that his daughter was murdered by her husband in the fact-based 1984 miniseries Fatal Vision.

'Don't leave home without it'

Karl Malden, left, and Eva Marie Saint, right, come to the aid of Marlon Brando who lies injured in the film On the Waterfront (Columbia Tristar/Getty Images)

But Malden may be best remembered for the series of American Express travellers cheque commercials he made between 1973 and 1994.

"After 50 years of doing all those other things in the business, wherever I go, the one thing people say to me is, 'Don't leave home without it,' " Malden said to the Los Angeles Times in 1989.

Born Mladen Sekulovich in Chicago, the son of an immigrant mother from what would later become Czechoslovakia and a Serbian father, he spoke little English until he was five.

He made his acting debut as a teenager in Serbian plays his father staged in a church basement, usually playing heavies with a black, fake mustache.

After high school, he worked in the steel mills in Gary, Ind., for three years.

Malden last appeared on screen in a 2000 episode of The West Wing.

With files from The Associated Press