Rod Steiger
Method actor and Academy Award winner known for intense, offbeat roles.
Rod Steiger was an American actor born on April 14, 1925, in Westhampton, New York, and died on July 9, 2002.[1][2] He was noted for portraying offbeat and volatile characters and is closely associated with method acting.[1]
Quick Facts
- Born
- 14 April 1925
- Birthplace
- Westhampton, New York, U.S.
- Died
- 9 July 2002
- Place of death
- Los Angeles, California, U.S.
- Education
- The New School for Social Research, Actors Studio
- Occupation
- Actor
- Years active
- 1946–2002
- Children
- 2 (including opera singer Anna Steiger)
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
His father, a vaudevillian, deserted the family during the Depression, and his mother turned to alcohol after a leg surgery ended her acting career.[3][4] At age sixteen, Steiger ran away from home to join the United States Navy during World War II.[5] He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in On the Waterfront (1954).[6] Rod Steiger, born to Lorraine and Frederick Steiger, had French, Scottish, and German ancestry and was brought up in the Lutheran faith; he was their sole child.[2]
Steiger's first film appearance was a minor part in Fred Zinnemann's 1953 movie Teresa.[7] Steiger declined the offer to play the lead in Patton (1970) because he was against the idea of making war seem glorious.[8] Following a 1979 open-heart surgery, Steiger's career suffered due to clinical depression and other health issues, leading him to frequently accept roles in B movies and television miniseries.[9]
What the cited sources add
French also stated that Steiger grew up caring for his alcoholic mother after his father deserted the family.[4] The Guardian obituary reported that Steiger did not reprise his TV role in Marty on the big screen or accept the title role in Patton.[4]
References
- Wikipedia, "Rod Steiger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hutchinson 1998, p. Google Books Introduction (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Rod Steiger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wise Rehill 2007, p. 241; Vries, Lloyd, "Actor Rod Steiger dies", CBS News, July 9, 2002; French, Phillip, "Steiger brought a sense of pain, guilt and authenticity to his characters", The Guardian, July 14, 2002; "Rod Steiger", The Daily Telegraph, July 19, 2002 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Rod Steiger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hutchinson 1998, p. Google Books Introduction; "Private Screenings Rod Steiger", Turner Classic Movies, May 2, 2014; "Rod Steiger explains his mother's alcoholism", Ottawa Citizen, February 14, 1985 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- French, Phillip, "Steiger brought a sense of pain, guilt and authenticity to his characters", The Guardian, July 14, 2002. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
- Wikipedia, "Rod Steiger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Robe 1986, p. 250 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Rod Steiger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Braudy 2005, p. 6 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Rod Steiger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hutchinson 1998, p. Google Books Introduction; "Danger Cast", TV.com; "Cafe Ami", TV.com; "Ordeal in Space", TV.com; "The Window", TV.com; "Gulf Playhouse Cast", TV.com; "Medallion Theatre Cast", TV.com; "Goodyear Television Playhouse Cast", TV.com; "First Command Performance of Romeo and Juliet", British Universities Film & Video Council; Wise Rehill 1999, p. 107; "The Philco Television Playhouse Cast", TV.com; Terrace 2008, p. 620; "Rod Steiger", The Daily Telegraph, July 19, 2002 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Rod Steiger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cornwell, "Rod Steiger, 'brooding and volatile' Hollywood tough guy for more than 50 years, dies aged 77", The Independent, July 10, 2002 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Rod Steiger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hutchinson 1998, p. Google Books Introduction; Hutchinson 1998, p. Google Books Introduction; Hutchinson 1998, p. Google Books Introduction; Bozzola, Lucia, "Rod Steiger", The New York Times (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Rod Steiger (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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