Rod Steiger received his first film roles in the early 1950s. His first major one was in "The Teresa (1951)", but his first lead role was in the TV version of "Marty (1953) (TV)". The movie version, however, had Ernest Borgnine in the lead and won him an Academy Award. Steiger's breakthrough role came in 1954, with the classic "On the Waterfront (1954)". Since then he has been a presence on the sc ...
show all Rod Steiger received his first film roles in the early 1950s. His first major one was in "The Teresa (1951)", but his first lead role was in the TV version of "Marty (1953) (TV)". The movie version, however, had Ernest Borgnine in the lead and won him an Academy Award. Steiger's breakthrough role came in 1954, with the classic "On the Waterfront (1954)". Since then he has been a presence on the screen as everything from a popular leading man to a little-known character actor. Steiger made a name for himself in many different types of roles, from a boxer in "Harder They Fall (1956)" to the title character in "The Al Capone (1959)". He was one of dozens of stars in the epic World War II film "Longest Day (1962)". In 1964 he received his second Oscar nomination for "The Pawnbroker (1964)". The next couple of years he was at the height of his powers. In 1965 he starred in the dark comedy "The Loved One (1965)", and in David Lean 's epic "Doctor Zhivago (1965)". In 1966 he starred in the TV version of his stage play, "Death of a Salesman (1966/I) (TV)", but in 1967 he landed what many consider his greatest role: Sheriff Bill Gillespie in "In the Heat of the Night (1967)", opposite Sidney Poitier. Steiger deservedly took home the Best Actor Oscar for his work in that film.
He took another controversial role as a man with many tattoos in "The Illustrated Man (1969)" and as a serial killer in the classic "The No Way to Treat a Lady (1968)". After that he seemed to have withdrawn from high-profile movies and became more selective in the roles he chose. He turned down the lead in "Patton (1970)" and also in "Godfather (1972)". Among his more notable roles in the 1970s are "The Happy Birthday, Wanda June (1971)", "Lolly-Madonna XXX (1973)", as Benito Mussolini in "Mussolini: Ultimo atto (1974)", "Portrait of a Hitman (1977)", "Jesus of Nazareth" (1977) (mini)", "F.I.S.T. (1978)" and "Amityville Horror (1979)". He starred in the critically acclaimed "The Chosen (1981)" with Robby Benson and Maximilian Schell, perhaps the highlight of his 1980s movie career. Steiger increasingly moved away from the big Hollywood pictures, instead taking roles in foreign productions and independent movies. As the 1980s ended Steiger landed a role as the buttoned-up New York City Chief of Police in "January Man (1989)".
Steiger was seriously affected by depression for eight years. As he returned to the screen in the late 1990s he began creating some of his most memorable roles. He was the doctor in the independently-made movie "The Shiloh (1996)", about an abused dog. He was the crazed, kill-'em-all army general in "Mars Attacks! (1996)" who always called his enemies peace-mongers. He took a small part as a Supreme Court judge in "Hurricane (1999)" and as a preacher in the badly produced film "End of Days (1999)". He was still active in films moving into the new millennium.
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