Born April 14, 1925 to Lutheran parents in Westhampton, New York, Rodney Stephan Steiger ran away from home at age 16 to join the navy. He served in combat in World War II on destroyers in the South Pacific. After the war he settled in New Jersey and began to study acting with Lee Strasberg and Elia Kazan at The Actor’s Studio. Always possessing the unique ability to suck the viewer into his character, Steiger was a classic method actor. His first break came in 1951 in the film “Theresa.”
His first leading role came a few years later in the television adaptation of “Marty” in 1953. His break-through role was undoubtedly in the classic film “On The Waterfront” opposite Marlon Brando in 1954. Known for his diversity, he could play virtually any part and convince any audience that he actually was that personality. He “seeped” the characters he portrayed in a way few actors can. He was married five times and had two children, one of whom, a daughter, Anna Steiger, is an opera singer. He, too, possessed an operatic voice but had no ear for keeping in the same key, which rendered his singing voice almost useless.
Of the more than 100 films he appeared in, his personal favorite was “The Pawnbroker” (1964). His riveting portrayal of a concentration-camp survivor won him an Oscar nomination. He won a Best Actor Oscar in 1967 for his role as a bigoted sheriff in the film ” In The Heat of the Night”. He received the Gift of Life Award after speaking out against the social stigma of mental depression from which he suffered for eight years. He died in Los Angeles on July 9, 2002.
What are some of your favorite Rod Steiger films? Please share.