Rod Steiger - Biography - IMDb Rod Steiger Biography Showing all 57 items Jump to: Overview (4) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (5) | Trade Mark (2) | Trivia (28) | Personal Quotes (14) | Salary (3) Overview (4) 5' 10" (1.78 m) Mini Bio (1) Rodney Stephen Steiger was born in Westhampton, New York, to Augusta Amelia (Driver) and Frederick Jacob Steiger, both vaudevillians. He was of German and Austrian ancestry. After his parents' divorce, Steiger was raised by his mother in Newark, New Jersey. He dropped out of Westside High school at age 16 and joined the Navy. He saw action in the Pacific on a destroyer. Steiger returned to New Jersey after the war and worked for the VA. He was part of an amateur acting group, and then joined the Actors' Studio using his GI Bill benefits. Steiger received his first film roles in the early 1950s.

His first major one was in Teresa (1951), but his first lead role was in the TV version of The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse: Marty (1953). 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 crooked promoter in The Harder They Fall (1956) to the title character in Al Capone (1959). He was one of dozens of stars in the epic World War II film The 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 BBC Play of the Month (1965) episode "Death of a Salesman" as Willy Loman in the TV version of his stage play "Death of a Salesman," 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 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 After that, he seemed to have withdrawn from high-profile movies and became more selective in the roles he chose.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 The Godfather (1972).

Among his more notable roles in the 1970s are Happy Birthday, Wanda June (1971), Lolly-Madonna XXX (1973), as Benito Mussolini in The Last 4 Days (1974), Portrait of a Hitman (1979), Jesus of Nazareth (1977), F.I.S.T. (1978) and The 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 The January Man (1989). Steiger was seriously affected by depression for 8 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 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 The 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. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Scott Adams (msa0510@mail.ecu.edu) and kenn_honeyman Spouse (5) His chunky frame and serious-looking face Full-bodied, somewhat bombastic acting style Trivia (28) He was offered the title role in Patton (1970) but refused the role, saying, "I'm not going to glorify war." The role was then given to George C. Scott , who won the Oscar for the role. Steiger calls this refusal his "dumbest career move". He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on April 10, 1997. He had a daughter with Claire Bloom , and a son with Paula Ellis.

Received the Gift of Life Award after tirelessly speaking out against the social stigma against mental disease, from which he suffered for many years. His daughter, Anna Steiger , is an opera singer. He had an operatic voice; however, he had no ear for keeping in the same key, rendering his singing voice almost useless. He had always said that the favorite of all his films was The Pawnbroker (1964). Enjoyed playing historical figures. Is listed as the Centre of the Hollywood Universe by the University of Virginia's Oracle of Kevin Bacon . He can be linked to any other movie actor in the classic Kevin Bacon -game style in an average of 2.651 steps. Served in the United States Navy in the Pacific Ocean during World War II. Steiger, who originated the role of Marty in the eponymous television production The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse: Marty (1953), said that he turned down the role in the 1955 movie production as the Hill-Hecht-Lancaster Productions contract would have bound him for years.

Harold Hecht and Burt Lancaster , on their part, said that they did not want to cast Steiger as they felt the public would not go for the same actor that they had seen for free on television. He told Robert Osborne during an interview on Turner Classic Movies that when he was in the United States Navy during World War II, he used to sing when it was his turn to stand watch on-board ship. The ship's captain, overhearing him one night, put a stop to his impromptu performances. After he played Jud Fry in Oklahoma! (1955), producer David O. Selznick wanted to sign him to a long-term contract and possibly star him in the lead of his proposed remake of Ernest Hemingway 's "A Farewell to Arms" opposite David O. Selznick 's wife, Jennifer Jones . "But I told him that I must have the right to choose my own mistakes", Steiger told his biographer, Tom Hutchinson. "His face fell - he couldn't believe anyone would refuse him. Neither could my agents!".

Most of the solo shots of Steiger during the famous taxicab scene in On the Waterfront (1954) were done after Marlon Brando had left for the day. Brando had it in his contract that he could finish shooting before the normal quitting time so that he could make his daily session with his psychiatrist. Steiger was deeply hurt and annoyed at Brando's rudeness and lack of courtesy to a fellow actor, as it was customary, in a two-shot, for an actor in close-up to be fed his lines by the other actor or for the other actor to just be there so the first actor would have him him or her to play to. Steiger used his negative emotions to enhance his performance, and though he paid tribute to Brando as a great actor, he personally loathed him thereafter. Director Elia Kazan stood in for Brando in the back of the cab so Steiger would have someone to emote to. Shortly before his death, Steiger had undergone surgery for a (presumably malignant) gall bladder tumor.

Campaigned vigorously for a role in The Godfather (1972), which began shooting in early 1971, three years after Steiger had reached the top of his craft, receiving the Academy Award for Best Actor his role as Sheriff Bill Gillespie in In the Heat of the Night (1967). Surprisingly, the role Steiger wanted was not the title role of Don Vito Corleone (eventually played by his On the Waterfront (1954) co-star Marlon Brando ), but the role of Michael Corleone, the Don's youngest son. Paramount executives found his desire to be bizarre as he was much too old for the role and turned him down without even a screen-test. Won the role of Viktor Komarovsky in Doctor Zhivago (1965) only after two other actors turned the role down.

After a month went by with Marlon Brando failing to respond to director David Lean 's written inquiry into whether he wanted to play Komarovsky, Lean offered the role to James Mason , who was a generation older than Brando, because he did not want an actor who would overpower the character Yuri Zhivago (specifically, to show Zhivago up as a lover of Lara, who would be played by the young Julie Christie , which the charismatic Brando might have done, shifting the sympathy of the audience). Mason initially accepted the role, but eventually dropped out and Steiger was given the role. He was honored with being chosen as one of AFI's 50 stars of the second half of the 20th century. 1976: Fell into a deep depression after undergoing triple heart bypass surgery. Was not the first choice to play the role of Sheriff Bill Gillespie in the 1967 Best Picture Academy Award-winner In the Heat of the Night (1967), for which Steiger won the Best Actor Oscar. The role was first offered to George C. Scott , who accepted, according to producer Walter Mirisch 's memoir "I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History".

Scott backed out when his wife Colleen Dewhurst wanted him to direct her in a play on Broadway. Ironically, Steiger later turned down the lead in Patton (1970) that went to Scott, which brought him his own Best Actor Oscar. Member of Handgun Control Inc. He studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village, New York City. His last televised appearance was on Jon Favreau 's Dinner for Five (2001), the episode aired April 29, 2002, Steiger passed away in July. He was the first person to win the best actor BAFTA two years in a row and the Oscar in the second year (For The Pawnbroker (1964) and In the Heat of the Night (1967)). The second one was Colin Firth in A Single Man (2009) and The King's Speech (2010). Had appeared in two Best Picture Academy Award winners: On the Waterfront (1954) and In the Heat of the Night (1967). When polled by the AFI Steiger named "The Good Earth" as his favorite film.

His paternal grandfather, Frederick Steiger, was German, and his paternal grandmother, Anna A. Libschick, was Austrian. Rod's maternal grandparents, Frank Driver and Amelia Fesler, were of German origin. His third wife, Sherry Nelson, was a former ballerina, before becoming Rod's secretary. Her marriage to him was her second. Personal Quotes (14) [on success] Successful people have control over the time in their life. A shoemaker who owns his own shop gets up one morning and says, "I'm not opening." That's a successful guy. [on Hollywood] A community of lonely people searching for even the most basic kind of stimulation in their otherwise mundane lives. Method acting is anything that gets you involved personally in the part, so that you can communicate in human terms with an audience. Despite all the obstacles, the American actor has changed the acting world. My career has been 65% virgin and 35% whore. I've refused roles many times because I'd have to lose my integrity, my dreams of doing something worthwhile with regard to character. That's the virgin part of me.

I tell young actors today to join the Merchant Marines for a year, and I tell young women to volunteer in a hospital emergency ward if they can. You get to see different people, cultures, dress - it's a marvelous education for an actor. [on acting] It sounds pompous but it's the nearest thing I can do to being God. I'm trying to create human beings and so does He. The first thing that you should do when you win an Oscar is thank God. The second thing you should do is forget it. You get the Oscar and you get better scripts, better actors and better directors to work for and of course your salary goes up until you make your first mistake and then you have to start from the beginning again. When old actors come up to me and say, "I don't know if I should do this role. It might be bad for my image", I say, "That's tough that you only have one image. My heart bleeds for you!". We are supposed to create raw people, explore life and communicate at the highest level; be it pain, joy or what have you. That's what I believe. I guess you could say it does become a philosophy, a way of life.

I'm ambivalent about Patton (1970). I'm kind of a half-assed pacifist and I must tell you, you know, your philosophy is as strong as your feelings on a particular day. If you're feeling good and you've accomplished something, you can back your philosophies to the hilt. And I don't know what happened, but I decided I'm not going to glorify this thing. I wasn't going to glorify war... I was a schmuck, because if I did Patton half as good as Mr. Scott [ George C. Scott ], I might have walked into The Godfather (1972). So that was a big mistake. When you lose your curiosity, you're dead. I don't care if you live to be 117. You're dead. [on Marlon Brando ] He was in a unique position. He could have done anything. But he didn't choose to. [on winning the Best Actor Oscar for In the Heat of the Night (1967)] I wanted to win it. It's important. It gives you greater latitude in the business and that means bigger and better parts. And I need that. I'm only 42.

Paul Newman is 43, [ Marlon Brando ] is 43, but I look like their father. I like watching Charles Chaplin, Harry Baur, Spencer Tracy, Paul Muni. I like to watch any good actor. When I'm depressed, I'll look around for a bad film, like the old films with chariot races and pulling down the temples and that. I find them very relaxing, like reading a comic book. Salary (3) Rod Steiger winning an Oscar® for Best Actor - YouTube Rod Steiger winning an Oscar® for Best Actor Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Uploaded on Apr 24, 2008 Audrey Hepburn presenting Rod Steiger with the Best Actor Oscar® for his performance in "In the Heat of the Night" - 40th Annual Academy Awards® in 1968.

Category 1967 Academy Awards® Winners and History Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) Actor: "Bonnie And Clyde" , Dustin Hoffman in "The Graduate" , Paul Newman in "Cool Hand Luke" , Spencer Tracy in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" Actress: "The Graduate" , Faye Dunaway in "Bonnie And Clyde" , Edith Evans in "The Whisperers", Audrey Hepburn in "Wait Until Dark" Supporting Actor: GEORGE KENNEDY in "Cool Hand Luke" , John Cassavetes in "The Dirty Dozen", Gene Hackman in "Bonnie And Clyde" , Cecil Kellaway in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", Michael J.

Pollard in Supporting Actress: ESTELLE PARSONS in "Bonnie And Clyde" , Carol Channing in "Thoroughly Modern Millie", Mildred Natwick in "Barefoot in the Park", Beah Richards in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", Katharine Ross in Director: MIKE NICHOLS for "The Graduate" , Richard Brooks for "In Cold Blood", Norman Jewison for "In the Heat of the Night" , Stanley Kramer for "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", Arthur Penn for "Bonnie And Clyde" The Oscar ceremony in April 1968 was delayed by two days (and held on April 10) due to Martin Luther King's assassination on April 4th and subsequent funeral. This was the second time in Academy history that the ceremony was postponed (it was also delayed in 1938 and 1981). This year marked the first year that the cinematography categories were merged back together - after 28 years. No longer would there be a distinction between color and black-and-white films. This would also be true for the categories of Art Direction and Costume Design. The Oscar race was remarkably even between four of the five nominees.

The films nominated for Best Picture in 1967 reflected the changing and schizophrenic times: two films with black-racial themes (both starring Sidney Poitier) one film with a graphically-violent ending one film reflecting the changing mores between the generations and the fifth - a fanciful children's story The ultimate (surprise) compromise winner in the Best Picture category was director Norman Jewison's engrossing thriller-murder mystery and sleeper comedy/drama film, In the Heat of the Night (with seven nominations and five wins - Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound). It illustrated the racial tension, prejudice, and eventual mutual respect and camaraderie expressed between a black police detective from the North (Philadelphia) and a Southern racist, white police chief in the small Mississippi town of Sparta, where both were compelled to work together on the same homicide case. The film, with a non-white actor in a lead acting role, was so controversial that it couldn't be filmed in the Deep South, so the sets were recreated in various small towns in two states: Sparta, Freeburg, and Belleville, Illinois, and Dyersburg, Tennessee.

It was unusual for the Academy to honor an old-fashioned, murder 'who-dun-it' as Best Picture. [Only a few traditional murder mysteries where the 'killer' is unveiled in the final moments have ever been nominated as Best Picture - The Thin Man (1934) and The Maltese Falcon (1941) . In the Heat of the Night was the first detective mystery to win the Best Picture Oscar, and the first Best Picture in Academy history to feature a police officer as its central character.] Another Best Picture nominee that was considered controversial because of its racial theme (it was Hollywood's first mainstream film about inter-racial marriage!) was liberal director Stanley Kramer's socially-relevant problem-comedy of racial co-existence, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (with ten nominations and only two wins - Best Actress and William Rose's Best Story/Screenplay). It was about a liberal couple (Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy) who are values-challenged when their sole young daughter (Katharine Houghton) brings home her prospective marriage partner - a world-renowned black surgeon (a typecast role for Sidney Poitier, the biggest box-office star at the time).

The two other choices for Best Picture in 1967 reflected the schizophrenic nature of the nominees - these two were ground-breaking and influential films that had a tremendous impact on young audiences, and signaled a significant shift that was soon to occur - the dawning of auteurism and the "New Hollywood": Arthur Penn (with his second nomination) directed the popular "New Hollywood" film Bonnie and Clyde (with ten nominations and only two wins - Best Supporting Actress and Best Cinematography) - the gangster fairy-tale was based on two Depression-era bank robbers who roamed the Southwest and ended with a bloody finale that was unprecedented in a mainstream Hollywood film. The film's chances for winning Best Picture were dimmed after New York Times critic Bosley Crowther's scathing campaign against the picture Mike Nichols (following his previous year's success in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) ) directed a screen adaptation of Charles Webb's novel, The Graduate (with seven nominations and only one win - for Nichols' direction) - a funny, definitive 60s film which spoke to alienated youth in the counter-cultural generation.

[Note: it was the last film to ever take home Best Director and no other Oscar.] The critical and box-office failure, 20th Century Fox's and director Richard Fleischer's trifling Best Picture-nominated Doctor Doolittle (with nine nominations and two wins - Best Song "Talk to the Animals" and Best Special Visual Effects) with Rex Harrison in the un-nominated title role as the English, 19th century animal-loving veterinarian, was not considered a serious contender, although it was a big-budget effort. Of the five directors in the Best Picture nominees, only director Richard Fleischer of Doctor Doolittle was not nominated. Richard Brooks took Fleischer's place in the Best Director nominees for his directorship of Truman Capote's docu-drama "non-fiction novel" of a mass murder of a family in 1959 in Kansas, In Cold Blood (with four nominations and no wins). Mike Nichols' win for Best Director of The Graduate (the film's sole Oscar) was considered a consolation prize for his loss the previous year. Both Bonnie and Clyde and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner had at least one nominee in each of the four acting award categories.

The winner in the hotly-contested Best Actor category was Rod Steiger (with his third and last career nomination and his first Oscar win) as gum-chewing, bigoted, Southern small-town local sheriff Bill Gillespie in In the Heat of the Night . By chance, he has to work on a local homicide case with the aid of Northern black detective Sidney Poitier's know-how. The other four nominees for Best Actor were: Spencer Tracy (in his ninth and last collaboration with co-nominee actress Katharine Hepburn) for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner as Matt Drayton - the socially-prominent San Franciscan father of a 21 year-old daughter (Hepburn's real-life niece Katharine Houghton in her film debut) who brings home her black fiance - a surgeon (Sidney Poitier) with hopes of approval for their marriage. [The nomination, received posthumously, was Tracy's ninth and last Oscar nomination for his last film. He had won his two career Oscars back in the late 1930s.

Tracy died less than two weeks after filming ended.] Warren Beatty (with his first of four unsuccessful acting nominations) for his career-launching role as impotent drifter and Depression Era bank-robber Clyde Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde 29 year-old Dustin Hoffman (with his first of seven career nominations), like Warren Beatty, for his star-making role in The Graduate as young, shy, and aimless 21 year-old Benjamin Braddock, a recent college graduate with no ambition or sense of adult responsibility who is told that "plastics" is the future Paul Newman (with his fourth nomination) for his role as the title character, a rebellious chain-gang convict in director Stuart Rosenberg's Cool Hand Luke Katharine Hepburn hadn't won an Oscar since 1933 - 34 years earlier, although she had been in many fine roles since then. She finally won her second Oscar (and it wouldn't be her last) as liberal-thinking Christina Drayton whose daughter is considering inter-racial marriage with a distinguished black surgeon (Sidney Poitier) in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.

It was Hepburn's tenth career nomination, tying her with Bette Davis (also with two Oscars) as the most-nominated actress. Hepburn would go on to surpass Davis with two more Oscars and a total of twelve career nominations. The performances of the other Best Actress nominees were probably more deserving, including: Anne Bancroft (with her third of five career nominations) as the cunning, tempting, menacingly-seductive Mrs. Robinson in Bonnie and Clyde Britain's Dame Edith Evans (with her third and last unsuccessful career nomination) as Mrs. Ross - an elderly, senile old woman living in poverty in director Bryan Forbes' melodramatic The Whisperers (the film's sole nomination) Audrey Hepburn (with her fifth and last career nomination) as Susy Hendrix - a blind, terrorized woman in director Terence Young's thriller Wait Until Dark (the film's sole nomination) The winner in the Best Supporting Actor category was George Kennedy (with his sole career nomination - and only Oscar) as battling and then admiring convict boss 'Dragline' who struggles against Paul Newman for leadership and eventually becomes his second-in-command friend and co-escapee in Cool Hand Luke .

Co-stars Gene Hackman (with his first nomination) and Michael Pollard (with his sole career nomination) were both nominated for Best Supporting Actor for their roles in Bonnie and Clyde as Buck Barrow (Clyde's brother) and as baby-faced car mechanic and gang member C.W. Moss. The other Best Supporting Actor nominees were: Cecil Kellaway (with his second and last of two unsuccessful career nominations) for his role as Drayton-family friend and priest Monsignor Ryan in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner John Cassavetes, better known for his improvisational directorial efforts (Shadows (1960)) (with his sole career nomination) as Victor Franko, one of the dozen hardened criminals on a suicide mission in the war-action film The Dirty Dozen (with four nominations and one win - Best Sound Effects), directed by Robert Aldrich The Best Supporting Actress award was captured by Estelle Parsons (with her first nomination and sole Oscar win) in her second film as neurotic, hysterical and annoying Blanche Barrow (outlaw Clyde's sister-in-law) in Bonnie And Clyde .

The other Best Supporting Actress nominees included: Katharine Ross (with her sole career nomination) as Elaine Robinson (Dustin Hoffman's girlfriend and Anne Bancroft's daughter) in The Graduate Beah Richards (with her sole nomination) as Mrs. Prentice (Sidney Poitier's mother) in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Mildred Natwick (with her sole nomination) recreating her Broadway role as Mrs. Ethel Banks (Jane Fonda's stodgy mother) in the film version of Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park (the film's sole nomination) Carol Channing (with her sole career nomination) as social Long Island widow Muzzy Van Hossmere in George Roy Hill's Thoroughly Modern Millie (with seven nominations and one win - Best Original Music Score) Producer/director Alfred Hitchcock was presented with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, possibly in recognition of the fact that he had been nominated five times for Best Director and had lost every time: for Psycho (1960) . This was Hitchcock's first and only 'Oscar'.

Oscar Snubs and Omissions: Sidney Poitier starred in three films in 1967, but didn't receive nominations for any of them (both of his co-stars Hepburn and Steiger won Oscars, however): for his outstanding performance as Virgil Tibbs in the Best Picture-winning In the Heat of the Night - as a well-dressed, honest, affluent-looking, proud black homicide detective from Philadelphia ("They call me Mr. Tibbs!") with forensic skills, investigating a case in 60s Mississippi for his role as teacher Mark Thackeray in the tough, inner-city section of London's East End tenements in To Sir, With Love for his appearance as African-American doctor/fiancee John Prentice in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner It was definitely unusual that Best Picture competitor The Graduate won only the Best Director Oscar and nothing else - it should have at the least won Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium for Buck Henry and Calder Willingham - and the Best Picture honor. Theadora Van Runkle's Costume Design nomination for Bonnie and Clyde was defeated by John Truscott for his costuming of the period piece Camelot.

Five films and their superb performances were unanimously ignored by the Academy in 1967: John Boorman's stylistic thriller Point Blank (with no nominations) with Lee Marvin as vengeful Walker Stanley Donen's Two for the Road (with only one unsuccessful nomination for Best Story and Screenplay) with Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney as couple Joanna and Mark Wallace in a disintegrating marriage director/writer Orson Welles' Chimes at Midnight (with no nominations), with Welles as Shakespeare's comic character Falstaff director Martin Ritt's Hombre (with no nominations) about racial bigotry (and a variation of John Ford's Stagecoach (1939) ), with Paul Newman as half-breed Apache warrior John Russell and Richard Boone as villain Cicero Grimes (with two notable lines: "Mister, you've got alot of hard bark on you walkin' down here like this," and “Well now, what'ya suppose hell's gonna look like?") director Luis Buñuel's Belle de Jour (1967, Fr.), (with no nominations) starring Catherine Deneuve (un-nominated) as a sexually-unfulfilled bourgeois Parisian housewife Severine Serizy with psychosexual

 (sado-machochistic) fantasies realized when she became a daytime prostitute Writer/director Richard Brooks' black and white crime drama In Cold Blood, with a script by Truman Capote and a powerful un-nominated performance by Robert Blake as a murderer, received four nominations (Best Cinematography for Conrad Hall, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Score - and no Best Picture nomination) without any success.

Richard Harris was un-nominated as King Arthur in Camelot, as was Richard Burton (as Petruchio) opposite Elizabeth Taylor (as Katherine) in director Franco Zeffirelli's romantic comedy The Taming of the Shrew (with only two nominations: Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design). Best Song nominees included: "The Bare Necessities" from Disney's Jungle Book, "The Eyes of Love" from Banning, "The Look of Love" from Casino Royale, "Thoroughly Modern Millie" from Thoroughly Modern Millie, and the ultimate winner: "Talk to the Animals" from Doctor Doolittle. Two very popular songs were neglected in the selections: "To Sir With Love" from To Sir, With Love, and Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson" from In the Heat of the Night (1967) Pages: ( 1 ) Background In the Heat of the Night (1967) is a tense whodunit detective story thriller that is set in the little town of Sparta, Mississippi during a hot summer, with an innovative score by Quincy Jones.

Norman Jewison masterfully directed this murder melodrama from a screenplay by Stirling Silliphant that was based on the novel by John Ball. The film's posters proclaimed: "They got a murder on their hands. They don't know what to do with it." The liberal-minded film, realistically-filmed by cinematographer Haskell Wexler, (who had just filmed Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) and would later go on to Coming Home (1978)), was a milestone for the racially-divided mid-60s because it forced the odd-couple collaboration of a bigoted but shrewd Southern sheriff and a lone, intelligent black homicide expert from Philadelphia. The film, with a non-white actor in a lead acting role, was so controversial that it couldn't be filmed in the Deep South, so the sets were recreated in various small towns in two states: Sparta, Freeburg, and Belleville, Illinois, and Dyersburg, Tennessee. Surprisingly, the film was nominated for seven Academy Awards and received five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Rod Steiger), Best Screenplay (Stirling Silliphant), Best Sound, and Best Film Editing.

It defeated Best Picture competitors Bonnie and Clyde and director Mike Nichols' The Graduate , and another Poitier vehicle on inter-racial marriage - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Although Rod Steiger won the Best Actor Oscar, Sidney Poitier didn't even receive a nomination. [Steiger had stiff Best Actor competition from Warren Beatty in Bonnie and Clyde , Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke , Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate , and Spencer Tracy in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.] And nominated Norman Jewison failed to take home the Best Director Oscar for the celebrated film - instead Mike Nichols won the award (presumably because he had failed to win as Best Director the previous year for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) ). The film's other losing nomination was for Best Sound Effects (James A. Richard). Following the success of this film, Sidney Poitier reprised his Virgil Tibbs character in two other films: he investigated the murder of a prostitute in the sequel They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970) and battled against a drug smuggling ring in The Organization (1971).

The film was the first Best Picture Oscar winner to be adapted into a regular prime-time TV series in 1988, with Carroll O'Connor as Sheriff Bill Gillespie and Howard Rollins as Virgil Tibbs. The Story After the murder of a wealthy and powerful Northern industrialist named Philip Colbert (uncredited Jack Teter) in the town one night, a well-dressed black stranger, Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier), waiting for a late night train in the deserted train station, is arrested as a prime suspect solely because of his color. Tibbs is brought before shrewd, overweight, gum-chewing, fast-talking, redneck Sheriff Bill Gillespie (Rod Steiger). Virgil, as it turns out, is an intelligent, Philadelphia homicide detective with a badge. When Virgil confidently demonstrates his investigative skills in front of the prejudiced Sheriff and his deputies, Gillespie can't help but insult him after being embarrassed and shown up: Gillespie: Well, you're pretty sure of yourself, ain't you, Virgil. Virgil, that's a funny name for a nigger boy to come from Philadelphia. What do they call you up there? Virgil: They call me Mister Tibbs.

The Sheriff tricks and challenges the smart black detective to stay and help solve the murder case using his experienced in police work and forensics: You're so damn smart! You're smarter than any white man. You're just going to stay here and show us all. You got such a big head that you could never live with yourself unless you could put us all to shame...I don't think you could let an opportunity like that pass by. Gillespie summarizes what life is like when the Philadelphia detective visits his home: Gillespie: You know, you know Virgil, you are among the chosen few. Virgil: How's that? Oscar Winner Rod Steiger Dead at 77 Oscar Winner Rod Steiger Dead at 77 Email Oscar-winning method actor Rod Steiger, who won the Best Actor Academy Award for his role as bigoted Southern sheriff Bill Gillespie in 1967’s Best Picture “In the Heat of the Night,” died Tuesday in a Los Angeles hospital of kidney failure and pneumonia, reports the Associated Press. He was 77.

For several decades starting in the ’50s, Steiger was a definitive performer, whose memorable roles included those in David Lean’s 1965 epic “Doctor Zhivago” (as the lawyer who swindled the main character’s father and who raped Lara, played by Julie Christie), in Sidney Lumet’s 1964 “The Pawnbroker” (as concentration-camp survivor Sol Nazerman) and in Elia Kazan’s 1954 classic “On the Waterfront” (as Marlon Brando’s mob-tinged brother). He even managed to conquer roles when cast against type, such as his villainous — and singing — Jud Fry in the 1955 film version of the musical stage smash “Oklahoma!” His last film performance was in the 2001 movie “A Month of Sundays.” Steiger was married and divorced four times, most notably to actress Claire Bloom (1959-69), with whom he had a daughter, Anna, now an opera singer. In recent years, Elizabeth Taylor credited Steiger’s devoted friendship with helping to bring her out of a severe depression.

(Steiger himself had suffered with depression for eight years late in his life.) As noted by the Associated Press, an interviewer once asked Steiger how he would like to die. “I don’t want to,” he replied, “but if it’s in front of a camera I wouldn’t mind.” Show Full Article Rod Steiger, 77, Oscar-Winning Character Actor Known for His Intensity and Versatility, Dies - The New York Times The New York Times Movies |Rod Steiger, 77, Oscar-Winning Character Actor Known for His Intensity and Versatility, Dies Search Rod Steiger, 77, Oscar-Winning Character Actor Known for His Intensity and Versatility, Dies By RICHARD SEVERO Continue reading the main story Rod Steiger, whose taut and intensely personal approach to a wide variety of roles placed him among the finest character actors of the last 50 years and brought him an Academy Award in 1967 for his depiction of the bigoted Southern sheriff in the film ''In the Heat of the Night,'' died yesterday in Los Angeles. He was 77. His publicity agent, Lori DeWaal, told The Associated Press that Mr.

Steiger had been hospitalized with pneumonia and kidney failure. ''My generation of actors was taught to be able to create different people,'' he once said. ''That's what an actor is supposed to do.'' For Mr. Steiger, those people arched across a spectrum from the lonely butcher in the original television production of ''Marty'' in 1953 and Charley Malloy, the corrupt older brother of the boxer played by Marlon Brando in the Academy Award-wining film version of ''On the Waterfront'' (1954), to the title role in ''Al Capone'' (1959), the menacing Jud in ''Oklahoma!'' (1955), in which he sang and learned to dance, and a haunted Jewish survivor of Hitler's concentration camps in ''The Pawnbroker'' (1965). Continue reading the main story Mr. Steiger was W. C. Fields in ''W. C. Fields and Me'' in 1976, Mussolini in ''Lion of the Desert'' in 1981, and Napoleon in ''Waterloo'' in 1970.

Among other historical figures in various films, he portrayed Rudolf Hess, Ulysses S. Grant, Rasputin and Pontius Pilate. Advertisement Continue reading the main story He worked with writers and directors like Norman Jewison, John Frankenheimer, Arthur Miller, Elia Kazan and Sidney Lumet, and his co-stars included a roster of names like Sidney Poitier, Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Sylvester Stallone and Jack Nicholson. Some film critics characterized Mr. Steiger as one of the 20th century's great character actors, more specifically as a method actor. Mr. Steiger thought of himself as an actor, period. ''There's no such thing as a straight part,'' he said. ''Every part you play is a character.'' He took issue with the way the term ''method acting'' was used. ''Method,'' he said, ''is anything that gets you involved personally in the part, so that you can communicate in human terms with an audience. The essence of any art is communication. The need of the actor is to say hello to the audience.'' For him, a part meant total immersion.

When he played Napoleon, he read everything he could about Bonaparte, even the autopsy report. When he was the sheriff in ''In the Heat of the Night'' his director, Norman Jewison, said it became impossible to talk to Mr. Steiger because even when he was off the set, he insisted on speaking in the sheriff's southern drawl. His performance as Bill Gillespie won him the Academy Award for best actor. His two other Oscar nominations came in Budd Schulberg's ''On the Waterfront,'' in which he played Mr. Brando's greedy and manipulative brother, and as the central figure in ''The Pawnbroker.'' In 1968, Mr. Steiger played a schizoid murderer in ''No Way to Treat a Lady,'' which required him to transform himself into an Irish priest, a German plumber, a homosexual hairdresser and a prostitute in drag. The movie received mixed reviews, but the critics, even those who thought Mr. Steiger sometimes overwhelmed a role, generally applauded his skill. ''No other major American actor could have brought off this kind of multifaceted tour de force,'' a Time magazine critic said.

Rodney Stephen Steiger was born April 14, 1925, in Westhampton, N.Y., the only child of Frederick and Lorraine Driver Steiger. The Steigers had worked together as a song-and-dance team but Rod never knew his father. He said his father ran out on his mother and his mother dropped out of show business, working at relatively menial jobs, succumbing to alcoholism. Mr. Steiger recalled that as a child, he had to fetch her in saloons but the two always remained close. At night, he once recalled, she would entertain him by playing the piano and singing such songs as ''Shine On, Harvest Moon,'' and ''Roses of Picardy.'' Soon after the Steigers were divorced, Mrs. Steiger and her son moved to New Jersey, and he attended public schools in Irvington, Bloomfield and Newark. Early in 1941 he dropped out of Newark's West Side High School, lied about his age (he was 16), enlisted in the Navy and spent most of World War II as a torpedoman, first class, aboard the destroyer Taussig in the South Pacific. Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box.

Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up Privacy Policy After his discharge in 1945, he returned to Newark and took a job with the Veterans Administration ''oiling the check-signing machine and carrying boxes of checks around the office.'' It yielded a take-home pay of $27.50 a week. He decided to join a theater group within the civil service, mostly in the hope of meeting interesting women. One such woman became his drama coach, and she encouraged him to pursue an acting career. He used the benefits provided by the G.I. Bill of Rights to study acting first at the New School for Social Research in New York, later at the American Theatre Wing, the Drama Workshop, and at Actors Studio. Advertisement Continue reading the main story By 1947 he was seeking and getting small roles on television plays, which in those days were done live. He lived with the fear that he would not be able to remember his lines, and Robert Aldrich, one of his directors in those days, thought Mr. Steiger probably worked harder than most to see to it that this never happened.

In 1951, he made his Broadway debut in a revival of Clifford Odets's ''Night Music,'' and the following year appeared on Broadway again in ''Seagulls Over Sorrento,'' a comedy by Hugh Hastings. In 1953 he appeared again onstage in a production of ''An Enemy of the People'' by Ibsen. Between 1948 and 1953 he appeared in approximately 250 live television productions, playing such people as Rudolph Hess, Andrei Vishinsky, Dutch Schultz and Romeo. It culminated with winning the title role in Paddy Chayevsky's ''Marty.'' which was all about Marty Pilletti, a lonely, homely, unmarried butcher in the Bronx who thought he'd never find himself a girl. The critics were enthusiastic about his performance. Jack Gould, writing in The New York Times, noted that, ''To imbue life and credibility into an intentionally flat character is not easy, but Mr. Steiger did it.'' The performance won Mr.

Steiger a Sylvania Award, which helped him get the role of Charley Malloy in ''On The Waterfront.'' In a bit of unusual casting, he was selected by Fred Zinnemann in 1956 to play Jud Fry in the film version of ''Oklahoma!'' In the role he both sang and danced, something he had never before done professionally. The critics approved, although some felt that Jud Fry became more of a character out of a Dostoyevsky novel than of a character of an Oscar Hammerstein libretto. Other films included ''Cry Terror'' (1958) and ''Al Capone'' (1959). He remained interested in the stage, appearing on Broadway in ''Rashomon'' in 1959 and in Orson Welles's blank verse adaptation of ''Moby Dick'' in 1962. The following yer he served as the voice of Poseidon in ''The Trojan Women,'' produced at the Circle in the Square.

Returning to film in 1963, he played a crooked city councilman in an Italian film, ''Hands Over the City,'' and next year the title role in ''The Pawnbroker.'' For this work he received both the Berlin Film Festival Award for best actor and the British Film Academy Award, for best foreign actor in a leading role. Mr. Steiger said that his 1965 role in ''The Loved One,'' remained one of his favorites. In it, he played ''Mr. Joyboy,'' an asexual undertaker. One of his mistakes, he said, was turning down the role of Gen. George S. Patton when it was offered in the late 1960s because he thought it glorified war. George C. Scott got the role and won an Academy Award. ''I've always been some kind of pacifist,'' Mr. Steiger said. Mr. Steiger had undergone open-heart surgery in the 1970's and had a lifelong problem controlling his weight, which over the years went up to 240 pounds or more. He also had problems controlling his moods and intermittently suffered from serious depression, which he fought with extensive psychoanalysis.

He said that seeing a psychiatrist enabled him to ''substitute one set of problems for another'' and to believe that the second set was ''easier to cope with.'' Mr. Steiger was married five times and divorced four. His first marriage, in 1952 to Sally Gracie, lasted a few months, although they were not legally divorced until 1958. He married the actress Claire Bloom in 1959, and with her he had a daughter, Anna Justine, who was born in 1960 and who became an opera singer. Mr. Steiger married Sherry Nelson in 1973; that marriage lasted six years. Mr. Steiger then married Paula Ellis, a singer, whom he met in 1980 when she was 20 and he was 54. They had a son, Michael. His last marriage, in 2000, was to an actress, Joan Benedict. He said that in his later years, he was unable to get work ''because we live in a country that worships youth and has an absolute hysterical fear of death.'' He insisted that his skills as an actor improved with age.

''The fine actors are poets, mobile poets,'' he said. ''The mechanism may get old but the sense of poetry never dies.'' In the Heat of the Night (1967) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error In the Heat of the Night ( 1967 ) Approved | An African American police detective is asked to investigate a murder in a racially hostile southern town.

Director: Stirling Silliphant (screenplay), John Ball (based on a novel by) Stars: From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC a list of 29 titles created 08 Jan 2013 a list of 39 titles created 28 Dec 2013 a list of 47 titles created 03 Jan 2014 a list of 30 titles created 24 Apr 2015 a list of 35 images created 24 Jun 2015 Title: In the Heat of the Night (1967) 8/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Won 5 Oscars. Another 17 wins & 14 nominations. See more awards » Photos A pair of NYC cops in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a drug smuggling job with a French connection. Director: William Friedkin The World War II phase of the career of the controversial American general, George S. Patton . Director: Franklin J.

Schaffner A naive hustler travels from Texas to New York to seek personal fortune but, in the process, finds himself a new friend. Director: John Schlesinger A couple's attitudes are challenged when their daughter introduces them to her African American fiancé. Director: Stanley Kramer A traveling handyman becomes the answer to the prayers of nuns who wish to build a chapel in the desert. Director: Ralph Nelson The story of Thomas More, who stood up to King Henry VIII when the King rejected the Roman Catholic Church to obtain a divorce and remarriage. Director: Fred Zinnemann The desperate life of a chronic alcoholic is followed through a four-day drinking bout. Director: Billy Wilder Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy. Directors: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise Stars: Natalie Wood, George Chakiris, Richard Beymer The rise and fall of a corrupt politician, who makes his friends richer and retains power by dint of a populist appeal. Director: Robert Rossen A senator, who became famous for killing a notorious outlaw, returns for the funeral of an old friend and tells the truth about his deed.

Director: John Ford An ex-prize fighter turned longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses. Director: Elia Kazan Two escaped convicts chained together, white and black, must learn to get along in order to elude capture. Director: Stanley Kramer Edit Storyline Detective Virgil Tibbs is caught up in the racial tension of the US South when he is arrested after the murder of a prominent businessman. Tibbs was simply waiting for his next train at the station in Sparta, Mississippi and the confusion is soon resolved but when local police chief Gillespie learns that Tibbs is the Philadelphia PD's number one homicide expert, he reluctantly asks for his assistance. The murdered man, Mr. Colbert, had come to Sparta from the North to build a new factory and his wife and business associates immediately point the finger at Endicott, the most powerful man in the county and the one who had the most to lose if a major new employer comes to the area. Tibbs' life is clearly in danger but he perseveres in a highly charged and racially explosive environment until the killer is found. Written by garykmcd Taglines: They got a murder on their hands . . .

they don't know what to do with it. See more » Genres: 25 October 1967 (Argentina) See more » Also Known As: Al calor de la noche See more » Filming Locations: Did You Know? Trivia Mississippi was eventually ruled out as a location due to the existing political conditions. Sparta, Illinois, was selected as the location, and the town's name in the story was changed to Sparta so that local signs would not need to be changed. The greenhouse was added to an existing home and filled with $15,000 worth of orchids. See more » Goofs Calendars in diner and sheriff's office differ by many months. See more » Quotes Ofcr. Sam Wood : Where you keeping the pie tonight? Ralph Henshaw, diner counterman : I ate the last piece just before you came in. See more » Crazy Credits No uppercase ("capital") letters are used in the opening and closing credits, including the film's title, cast and characters, crew and job titles, and company credits. See more » Connections (United States) – See all my reviews 1967 was a turbulent year in the U S.

Civil rights marches and demonstrations, anti-war rallies, the summer of love,psychedelic music and backlash against the previously noted, 1967 had it all. And this great movie came out, about a small Mississippi town embroiled in a steaming hot summer and a sizzling murder case. The movie diverges from the book on many aspects, mostly for the better. This is a serious look at a nation and a community in turmoil. The acting is first rate, from Sidney Poitier (one of the greatest American actors of this generation, regardless of race), Rod Steiger, Lee Grant, Warren Oates and the whole passel of townsfolk. The plot has been well outlined in previous posts, so I won't belabor it. My favorite scene is when Virgil examines the deceased, looking for clues in discoloration, type of wound, etc., while the sheriff looks on with his jaw practically on the floor in amazement. You can plainly see that he wanted to pin the crime on a hitch-hiker or one of the town's less desirable inhabitants.

While some may see the film as preachy or presenting Virgil as a superior to the hicks, seen in the context of its time, it really tells a lot about race relations of the time. The movie is well filmed with lots of atmospheric detail of the time and region (even though it was filmed in Illinois, some areas of Illinois and Indiana were very Southern in their feel and outlook). Great acting, a good mystery, fine cinematography and an important theme make this a must-see movie. 10 stars. 33 of 43 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes Rod Steiger - Hollywood Star Walk - Los Angeles Times Hollywood Star Walk Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times Stars Died July 9, 2002 of kidney failure in Los Angeles, CA Rod Steiger was an Oscar-winning actor with a chameleon-like ability to inhabit diverse characters. He gave particularly memorable performances in "The Pawnbroker" (1964) and "In the Heat of the Night" (1967). Steiger was the consummate Method actor, studying under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio in New York, and was known for bringing a raw intensity to his performances.

He played a middle-aged Italian butcher in the television drama "Marty" and a bigoted Southern sheriff of "In the Heat of the Night," a role that earned him the Academy Award. Between 1948 and 1953 Steiger appeared in more than 250 live television productions, the best known being the 1953 Paddy Chayefsky drama "Marty." By 1951 the actor had made his debut on Broadway and appeared in his first film role, in director Fred Zinnemann's "Teresa." Three years later, Steiger received his first Oscar nomination for playing Brando's thuggish brother Charlie in Elia Kazan's seminal drama "On the Waterfront" (1954). Though Steiger consistently gave interesting performances after "In the Heat of the Night," the roles never lived up to his earlier work.

— Lorenza Munoz and Susan King in the Los Angeles Times July 10, 2002 Related Now That Rod Steiger Has His Oscar | Interviews | Roger Ebert Now That Rod Steiger Has His Oscar by Roger Ebert Tweet Hollywood - The day before he won his Academy Award, Rod Steiger sat on the bank of a lake hidden up in the hills and said. "Of course I want to win. I don't know anybody who wants to lose." He was on location for the film of Ray Bradbury 's " The Illustrated Man ," and like the title character he was covered from neck to toe with strange, otherworldly designs. It is probably his most unusual role. The tattoos, he said, "tell of the fate and destiny of man." But then he thought that line over and shook his head. "Naw," he said, "I don't want to get all intellectual about this. What the hell, the tattoos tell the future. And when you look into them, you're carried into other times, other worlds." He talked in a semiliterate, backwoods accent because that is the way the Illustrated Man talks, and when Steiger is on a set he always talks the way his character would.

He fingered three days of stubble on his chin. "There's only one hitch," he said. "Over my left shoulderblade, see, there's a clear space that isn't tattooed, When a person looks at that, he sees his own future. And the hitch is that the illustrated man naturally can't look at his own back. So he carries the future of all other men but remains ignorant of his own. How do you like them potatoes?" This was the lunch break, and members of the crew were dabbling their feet in the water. It was a hot day but too early in the season for dragonflies to drone through the reeds growing next to the bank. Steiger had pulled a windbreaker over his tattoos and was sitting in the shade with Robert Drivas , his young co-star, and Jack Smight , the director. The only other member of the cast is Steiger's wife, Claire Bloom , who was not needed for the shooting that day. "How you gonna get back to the Awards?" Drivas asked. "I got it all figured out," Steiger said. "We're going first-class, First-class." He was still talking in character, playing his lines for laughs.

"We shoot here right up until 3:15 see, then a helicopter picks me up at 3:30, and we go right up into the sky like a great yellow bird and land at the studio at 3:45. That saves me an hour over driving. Then I shave at the studio, put on my tux, and Claire's there waiting. We get into that big, beautiful Mercedes-Benz custom limousine, and we arrive at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, and, boy, that's what I mean when I say style." "You're doing it up right," Smight said. "I got to do it right: I may not get another chance," Steiger said. He was joking, but you could see he was serious too. "I thought it over," he said. "I think this way is best, less pretentious. The other plan was for that whirlybird to land right there in the parking lot at Santa Monica, on television, and then the Mercedes drives me and my wife 15 steps to the auditorium door." He grinned, "I figured maybe that might be a little too much," he said. "A slight bit overdone," Smight said.

"A mite too much" said Drivas. "I'm not so practiced at this business of pulling up in a limousine and everybody cheers," Steiger said. "I only went to one Hollywood premiere. I figured everybody ought to go to one. That was my first and last premiere. We pulled up and stepped out. Unfortunately, the car in front of us contained Lassie, so we were upstaged. Upstaged, you hear me, boy? I learned a lot about the business in five seconds. Lassie, Lassie, they were all screaming, Lassie! I tell you..." He shook his head and smacked his palm with his fist. Then he turned to Drivas. "You gonna be there." he said. "No," Drivas said. "I have a date in San Francisco. I have to go see this girl." "What girl?" said Steiger. "You know what girl," Drivas said. "That beautiful blond girl. You sat next to her at that party. You sat on the stairs for an hour with her, trying to snake her." "Son," Steiger said, "I don't remember her. But I can promise you this.

If I had made my move, she would have been obliviated. Ob-liviated." Everybody laughed. Steiger has an infectious good humor that seems to dominate the sets he works on; there is a relaxed quality in camera crews glad to be rid, for once, of neo-Nazi directors and temperamental stars. "Well," said Drivas, "I figure you're in. You got to win." "I'll just give you this advice," Steiger said. "On Thursday, I'll be here, win or lose. But if I lose, don't mess with me. And if I win," he said, pausing to get the timing right, "If I win, don't talk to me." "Rod," Drivas said, "I meant to tell you, I saw you in that real good movie, 'The Girl and the General" with Virna Lisi , and I thought you were...interesting." Steiger winced. "Don't mention that movie where I can hear you, boy," he said. "I don't like to think about that movie. Hey, boy, come to think of it, you're talking like that, and here this is your first picture.

Shoot, boy, shoot, boy." He walked away, shaking his head melodramatically. "And to think," he sighed to no one in particular, "that in order to sign this lad we had to break his contract at Disneyland." Smight walked down to the water's edge to rehearse with Steiger and Drivas. The lake was Smight's discovery; he had come across it two years ago while up in the hills shooting Paul Newman's chase scene in "Harper." The scene this afternoon would be quieter. It required the illustrated man to tell the boy about a woman he had met 30 years before, a woman who had placed the strange tattoos on his body and then disappeared. After the rehearsal, while the crew was lighting the scene, Steiger talked seriously about his career and about the role of a Southern police chief in "In the Heat of the Night," which was to win him the Academy Award for best actor the next day. "That was a useful picture, I think, because it had a little to say on the racial tension in this country, and yet it didn't preach," he said. "I enjoyed working on that. We were down in Sparta, Ill., a very friendly little town, looked just like Mississippi.

I remember a couple of weekends I came up to Chicago, went to the Art Institute, and wandered through that district where all the young people go. What was it: Old Town, that's right. Lots of good beer places. Nobody recognized me, which was a relief." That's the funny thing about Steiger. Although he has been in a great many successful movies, from " On the Waterfront " and "The Pawnbroker" to the just-released "No Way to Treat a Lady, the public still has trouble recognizing him. Is it because he sinks so completely into each role that he stops looking like Rod Steiger? Steiger smiled. "Well, it would be nice to think so," he said. "But confidentially, I think it's fat. I'm always taking off weight and putting it on, and when I get a character who's supposed to be heavy. I'm in my glory. For "The Illustrated Man," he has another problem. The incredibly detailed tattoos which cover his body take a team of makeup men 10 hours to apply, That takes all day Monday every week, and then on Tuesdays and Wednesdays he shoots, before the dyes wear off.

The rest of the week he does scenes set in the future, when he isn't tattooed. There is a widely told legend that before Steiger plays a part, he goes into a department store and pretends to be his character, to see what the character would buy. Is it true? "Part true, part not," Steiger said. "I do it when I'm stuck. I try to think, what would this guy think about the stuff in this store? It's an imagination game. You know who does it brilliantly? Jonathan Winters . They throw him a prop, and he improvises. Did you see him once when they gave him a belt, trying to stump him, but right away he makes it a landing strip for jet flies..." After "The Illustrated Man," Steiger will do "Napoleon," and then, he says, he doesn't know what will be next. "I have a couple of pictures just being released now. 'No Way to Treat a Lady,' which Jack Smight also directed, in which I'm a homicidal killer who uses various disguises and accents and pesters the police detective, George Segal , nearly to death.

And a movie I made right after 'The Pawnbroker' is just now being released. That's 'Nothing But a Man,' a film about Pope John XXIII. "In the future, who knows? I have a dream project, like all actors. I'd like to do a film of Tom Wolfe 's 'The Web and the Rock.' I'd play George Webber -- Monk Webber, they called him. That could be a great film, but I have no script, only an idea. I'd like to play Hemingway sometime. If I had my way, I'd do nothing but biographies." Steiger leaned forward in his canvas chair and clasped his tattooed hands together. "See," he said, "that's why it would be nice to win this Academy Award. If I won, I'd get a crack at scripts I might otherwise not see. "And that's what I want and need. I make enough money. But if you can get yourself into a certain position in this business, get your salary up to a certain level, win the awards, then you can get a wider choice of scripts, and you don't have to do the crap simply because there's nothing else available.

I want to get myself into that position--I'm about there now, I think--and then work like hell."

Question: In which film did Rod Steiger play a sheriff to win the 1967 Best Actor Oscar?
Answer: In the Heat of the Night