Wasn't Karl Malden born in America?
He was an American first.
Years ago most actors changed their names.
It was how they could get work.
It doesn't mean that they were denying their heritage.
Karl Malden was a very old man when he died.
Maybe he was not in good enough health in his 'later' years to speak out.
He was a very good actor and seemingly a decent person.
He was married to the same woman for 70 years.
You should be proud of him.
Maybe first by your culture, but, by our standards, ethnicity is what comes the first (usually, although some put religion first, which is not correct). Here, nations are defined by ethnicity.
Well, it is possibly true, he was in well conditions, but somewhat weak when he spoke to Mira Adanja-Polak, that interview was somewhat in 2003 if I remember.
I posted above that interview and he was saying that he's proud of his background and that he was always saying "I'm a Serb".
Dan Tana was teaching him some our songs, as I can see.