# Rod Steiger on screen and stage

Rod Steiger was an American actor who had an extensive career in film, television, and stage. He made his stage debut in 1946 with Civic Repertory Theatre's production of the melodrama Curse you, Jack Dalton!. He worked onstage in a production of An Enemy of the People at the Music Box Theatre. He had a small role in his film debut Teresa (1951). In 1953, he played the title role in the teleplay "Marty" and reprised the role for the 1955 film adaptation. He had a breakout role for the crime film On the Waterfront (1954), and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Steiger starred in the musical film Oklahoma! (1955).
Steiger played a crooked promoter in Mark Robson's boxing film noir The Harder They Fall (1956). In the British thriller Across the Bridge (1957), he played a German con-artist on the run in Mexico. He starred in Andrew L. Stone's thriller film Cry Terror! (1958). He played a real-life businessman Al Capone in Richard Wilson's 1959 biopic film of the same name. He played the lieutenant commander of the USS Satterlee set in Normandy landings for the war film The Longest Day (1962). Steiger played an highly educated blind man traveling West to found a school for the blind in California, in the S-4 / E-28 episode on the long-running Western TV series Wagon Train, "The Saul Bevins Story" (1961). For playing a survivor of the Holocaust in the drama The Pawnbroker (1964), he garnered a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and nominations for the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award in the same category. The following year, he was cast in the role of a ruthless Russian Empire politician caught up in the 1917 Russian Revolutions and following Civil War in the epic Doctor Zhivago, which was the biggest box-office success of the 1960s, and was included in AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies. He won an Academy Award, a BAFTA and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for Norman Jewison's mystery drama In the Heat of the Night (1967), playing a Southern small town police chief coping with an unexpected murder. He played a serial killer in the thriller film No Way to Treat a Lady (1968), and ended the decade with the box-office bomb film Three into Two Won't Go (1969).
In the 1970s, Steiger starred in foreign productions and independent films in search of more demanding roles. His roles during the period include Waterloo (1970), about the famous 1815 battle ending the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, Duck, You Sucker! (1971), about an Irish IRA revolutionary in Mexico during their 1910-20 revolutionary period, 'Last Days of Mussolini (1975), about the Fascist Italian dictator in World War II, W. C. Fields and Me (1976), Roman Empire governor Pontius Pilate in Jesus of Nazareth (1977 TV miniseries), F.I.S.T. (1978), as a 1930s labor union boss, and The Amityville Horror (1979). After suffering a heart attack in 1979 and undergoing surgery, his poor health and subsequent unfortunate psychological depression took its toll on Steiger's career, and he was forced to appear in several low-budget B movies. Although he was nominated the following year for the Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actor for his roles in the Canadian productions Klondike Fever and The Lucky Star in 1980, and won the Montréal World Film Festival Award for Best Actor the next year for Jeremy Kagan's The Chosen (1981), his subsequent roles were mainly in low-budget films. In 1989, he played authority figures in two films, including The January Man and Tennessee Waltz.
In 1990, Steiger starred in Men of Respect, an adaptation of William Shakespeare's play Macbeth. His role in the critically panned thriller film, The Specialist (1994), earned him a nomination for the infamous Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor. Steiger appeared in both films, Shiloh (1995) and Shiloh 2: Shiloh Season (1998). He reunited with Jewison for the biopic film The Hurricane (1999), in which he played judge H. Lee Sarokin. He starred in the drama film The Last Producer (2000) and made his final film role for Poolhall Junkies (2002).

## Film

| Title | Year | Role | Director(s) | Notes | Ref(s) |
| Teresa | 1951 | Frank | Fred Zinnemann | Film debut | |
| On the Waterfront | 1954 | Charlie Malloy | Elia Kazan | | |
| Oklahoma! | 1955 | Jud Fry | Fred Zinnemann | | |
| The Big Knife | 1955 | Stanley Shriner Hoff | Robert Aldrich | | |
| The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell | 1955 | Major Allan Guillon | Otto Preminger | | |
| The Harder They Fall | 1956 | Nick Benko | Mark Robson | | |
| Jubal | 1956 | 'Pinky' Pinkum | Delmer Daves | | |
| Back from Eternity | 1956 | Vasquel | John Farrow | | |
| The Unholy Wife | 1957 | Paul Hochen | John Farrow | | |
| Run of the Arrow | 1957 | Private O'Meara | Samuel Fuller | | |
| Across the Bridge | 1957 | Carl Schaffner | Ken Annakin | | |
| Cry Terror! | 1958 | Paul Hoplin | Andrew L. Stone | | |
| Al Capone | 1959 | Al Capone | Richard Wilson | | |
| Seven Thieves | 1960 | Paul Mason | Henry Hathaway | | |
| World in My Pocket | 1961 | Frank Morgan | Alvin Rakoff | | |
| The Mark | 1961 | Dr. Edmund McNally | Guy Green | | |
| 13 West Street | 1962 | Sergeant Koleski | Philip Leacock | | |
| Convicts 4 | 1962 | 'Tiptoes' | Millard Kaufman | | |
| The Longest Day | 1962 | Destroyer Commander | Andrew Marton | | |
| Hands Over the City | 1963 | Edoardo Nottola | Francesco Rosi | | |
| The Pawnbroker | 1964 | Sol Nazerman | Sidney Lumet | | |
| Time of Indifference | 1964 | Leo | Francesco Maselli | | |
| The Loved One | 1965 | Mr. Joyboy | Tony Richardson | | |
| A Man Named John | 1965 | The Intermediary | Ermanno Olmi | | |
| Doctor Zhivago | 1965 | Victor Ipolitovich Komarovsky | David Lean | | |
| In the Heat of the Night | 1967 | Chief of Police Bill Gillespie | Norman Jewison | | |
| The Girl and the General | 1967 | The General | Pasquale Festa Campanile | | |
| No Way to Treat a Lady | 1968 | Christopher Gill | Jack Smight | | |
| The Sergeant | 1968 | Sergeant Albert Callan | John Flynn | | |
| The Illustrated Man | 1969 | Carl | Jack Smight | | |
| Three Into Two Won't Go | 1969 | Steve Howard | Peter Hall | | |
| Waterloo | 1970 | Napoleon Bonaparte | Sergei Bondarchuk | | |
| Bridge from No Place | 1971 | Unseen Narrator | William Templeton | 23-minute anti-drug documentary | |
| Duck, You Sucker! | 1971 | Juan Miranda | Sergio Leone | | |
| Happy Birthday, Wanda June | 1971 | Harold Ryan | Mark Robson | | |
| Lolly-Madonna XXX | 1973 | Laban Feather | Richard C. Sarafian | | |
| The Heroes | 1973 | Guenther Von Lutz | Duccio Tessari | | |
| Lucky Luciano | 1973 | Gene Giannini | Francesco Rosi | | |
| Last Days of Mussolini | 1975 | Benito Mussolini | Carlo Lizzani | | |
| Innocents with Dirty Hands | 1975 | Louis Wormser | Claude Chabrol | | |
| Hennessy | 1975 | Niall Hennessy | Don Sharp | | |
| W. C. Fields and Me | 1976 | W. C. Fields | Arthur Hiller | | |
| F.I.S.T. | 1978 | Senator Andrew Madison | Norman Jewison | | |
| Love and Bullets | 1979 | Joe Bamposa | Stuart Rosenberg | | |
| Breakthrough | 1979 | General Webster | Andrew V. McLaglen | | |
| Portrait of a Hitman | 1979 | Max Andreotti | Allan A. Buckhantz | | |
| The Amityville Horror | 1979 | Father Delaney | Stuart Rosenberg | | |
| Klondike Fever | 1980 | Soapy Smith | Peter Carter | | |
| The Lucky Star | 1980 | Colonel Gluck | Max Fischer | | |
| Lion of the Desert | 1980 | Benito Mussolini | Moustapha Akkad | | |
| Wolf Lake | 1980 | Charlie | Burt Kennedy | | |
| Cattle Annie and Little Britches | 1981 | Bill Tilghman | Lamont Johnson | | |
| The Chosen | 1981 | Reb Saunders | Jeremy Kagan | | |
| The Magic Mountain | 1982 | Mynheer Peeperkorn | Hans W. Geißendörfer | | |
| The Naked Face | 1984 | Lieutenant McGreary | Bryan Forbes | | |
| The Kindred | 1987 | Phillip Lloyd | Stephen Carpenter Jeffrey Obrow | | |
| Catch the Heat | 1987 | Jason Hannibal | Joel Silberg | | |
| American Gothic | 1988 | Pa | John Hough | | |
| The January Man | 1989 | Mayor Eamon Flynn | Pat O'Connor | | |
| That Summer of White Roses | 1989 | Martin | Rajko Grlić | | |
| Tennessee Waltz | 1989 | Judge Prescott | Nicolas Gessner | | |
| Men of Respect | 1990 | Charlie D'Amico | William Reilly | | |
| The Ballad of the Sad Cafe | 1991 | Reverend Willin | Simon Callow | | |
| Guilty as Charged | 1991 | Kallin | Sam Irvin | | |
| The Player | 1992 | Himself | Robert Altman | | |
| Kölcsönkapott idö | 1993 | Sepak | István Poór | | |
| The Neighbor | 1993 | Dr. Myron Hatch | Rodney Gibbons | | |
| The Last Tattoo | 1994 | General Frank Zane | John Reid | | |
| The Specialist | 1994 | Joe Leon | Luis Llosa | | |
| Seven Sundays | 1994 | Benjamin | Jean-Charles Tacchella | | |
| Captain Nuke and the Bomber Boys | 1995 | The President | Charles Gale | | |
| Livers Ain't Cheap | 1996 | Victor | James Merendino | | |
| Carpool | 1996 | Mr. Hammerman | Arthur Hiller | | |
| Shiloh | 1996 | Doc Wallace | Chip Rosenbloom | | |
| Mars Attacks! | 1996 | General Decke | Tim Burton | | |
| Truth or Consequences, N.M. | 1997 | Tony Vago | Kiefer Sutherland | | [90] [91] |
| Incognito | 1997 | Milton A. Donovan | John Badham | | |
| The Kid | 1997 | Harry Sloan | John Hamilton | | |
| Animals | 1998 | Fontina | Michael Di Jiacomo | | |
| Legacy | 1998 | Sadler | T.J. Scott | | |
| The Snatching of Bookie Bob | 1998 | Bob 'Bookie Bob' | John Sharian | | |
| Modern Vampires | 1999 | Abraham Van Helsing | Richard Elfman | | |
| Shiloh 2: Shiloh Season | 1999 | Doc Wallace | Sandy Tung | | |
| Crazy in Alabama | 1999 | Judge Louis Mead | Antonio Banderas | | |
| The Hurricane | 1999 | Judge Sarokin | Norman Jewison | | |
| End of Days | 1999 | Father Kovak | Peter Hyams | | |
| Cypress Edge | 2000 | Woodrow McCammon | Serge Rodnunsky | | |
| Body and Soul | 2000 | Johnny Ticotin | Sam Henry Kass | | |
| The Last Producer | 2000 | Sheri Ganse | Burt Reynolds | | |
| Lightmaker | 2000 | King Osso | Dieter Meier | | |
| The Flying Dutchman | 2001 | Ben | Robin P. Murray | | |
| A Month of Sundays | 2001 | Charley McCabe | Stewart Raffill | | |
| The Hollywood Sign | 2001 | Floyd Benson | Sönke Wortmann | | |
| Poolhall Junkies | 2002 | Nick | Mars Callahan | | |

## Television

| Title | Year | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
| "Telas, the King" | 1950 | Guest appearance | Actors Studio anthology series episode | |
| "Taste of Ashes" | 1950 | Guest appearance | Danger anthology series episode | |
| "Cafe Ami" | 1951 | Victor Honegger | Lux Video Theatre anthology series episode | |
| "Ordeal in Space" | 1951 | Commander William Coles | Out There anthology series episode | |
| "No Medals on Pop" | 1951 | Guest appearance | The Philco Television Playhouse anthology series episode | |
| "The Window" | 1952 | Henry | Tales of Tomorrow anthology series episode | |
| "The Inn" | 1952 | Guest appearance | Kraft Television Theatre anthology series episode | [106] [107] |
| "Alibi Me" | 1952 | Leo Whaley | Suspense anthology series episode | |
| "Raymond Schindler, Case One" | 1952 | Guest appearance | Goodyear Theatre anthology series episode | [109] [110] |
| "The Evil Within" | 1953 | Peter | Tales of Tomorrow anthology series episode | |
| "My Brother's Keeper" | 1953 | Radar Sergeant | Kraft Television Theatre anthology series episode | [111] [112] |
| "Dream House" | 1953 | Guest appearance | Kraft Television Theatre anthology series episode | [113] [114] |
| "Windy" | 1953 | Guest appearance | Danger anthology series episode | [115] [116] |
| "Cafe Society" | 1953 | First man | The Gulf Playhouse anthology series episode | |
| "The Dutch Schultz Story" | 1953 | Dutch Schultz | Suspense anthology series episode | |
| "Marty" | 1953 | Marty | The Philco Television Playhouse anthology series episode | |
| "The Quiet Village" | 1953 | Guest appearance | Medallion Theatre anthology series episode | [120] [121] |
| "Other People's Houses" | 1953 | Guest appearance | Goodyear Theatre anthology series episode | [122] [123] |
| "The Man Most Likely" | 1954 | Guest appearance | Kraft Television Theatre anthology series episode | [113] [124] |
| "The Murderer Who Wasn't" | 1954 | Willie Schmidt | Philip Morris Playhouse anthology series episode | |
| "Smoke Screen" | 1954 | Guest appearance | The Philco Television Playhouse anthology series episode | [126] [127] |
| "In the Deep of the Night" | 1954 | Guest appearance | Justice anthology series episode | |
| "Yellow Jack" | 1955 | Busch | Producers' Showcase anthology series episode | |
| A Town Has Turned to Dust | 1958 | Harvey Denton | Playhouse 90, Season 2, Episode 38 |
| Jesus of Nazareth | 1977 | Pontius Pilate | Miniseries | |
| Cook & Peary: The Race to the Pole | 1983 | Robert E. Peary | Television film | |
| The Glory Boys | 1984 | Professor David Sokarev | Miniseries | |
| Hollywood Wives | 1985 | Oliver Easterne | Miniseries | |
| Sword of Gideon | 1986 | Mordechai Samuels | Television film | |
| Desperado: Avalanche at Devil's Ridge | 1988 | Silas Slaten | Television film | |
| Passion and Paradise | 1989 | Sir Harry Oakes | Television film | |
| In the Line of Duty: Manhunt in the Dakotas | 1991 | Gordon Kahl | Television film | |
| Sinatra | 1992 | Sam Giancana | Biography and drama miniseries | |
| The Critic | 1994 | Himself (voice) | Episode: "L.A. Jay" | |
| Tom Clancy's Op Center | 1995 | Rudi Kushnerov (Boroda) | Miniseries | |
| Choices of the Heart: The Margaret Sanger Story | 1995 | Anthony Comstock | Television film | |
| In Pursuit of Honor | 1995 | Col. Owen Stuart | Television film | |
| Out There | 1995 | Col. Buck Gunner | Television film | |
| "Strange Bedfellows" | 1995 | Vincenzo Fortelli | Columbo series episode (May 8) | |
| Redemption | 1996 | Oskar Rothman / Carl Wolfe | The Commish series episode (January 11) | |
| Dalva | 1996 | John Wesley Northridge II | Television film | |
| Little Surprises | 1996 | Joe | Short film | |
| The Simpsons | 1998 | Captain Tenille | Voice Episode: "Simpson Tide" | |
| Legacy | 1998 | Sadler | Television film | |
| The Flying Dutchman | 2000 | Ben | Television film | |
| The Last Producer | 2000 | Sheri Ganse | Television film | [135] [136] |
| Dinner for Five | 2002 | Guest appearance as himself | Series episode (April 29) final television appearance | |

## Stage

| Production | Year | Theater | Role |
| Curse You, Jack Dalton! | 1946 | Civic Repertory Theatre of Newark | Un­known |
| An Enemy of the People | 1950 | Music Box Theatre | Townperson |
| Night Music | 1951 | ANTA Playhouse | A. L. Rosenberger |
| Seagulls Over Sorrento | 1952 | John Golden Theatre | Telegraphist Sparks |
| Rashomon | 1959 | Broadhurst Theatre | Bandit |
| Moby Dick—Rehearsed | 1962 | Ethel Barrymore Theatre | Actor-Manager later Father Mapple and Captain Ahab |