Actor Rod Steiger dead at 78

Associated Press ^ | July 9, 2002 | Associated Press Staff

[MeekOneGOP]

Actor Rod Steiger dead at 78

07/09/2002

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Rod Steiger, the beefy, intense actor who won the Academy Award as best actor of 1967 for his role as the unrelenting Southern police chief in "In the Heat of the Night," died Tuesday. He was 78.

Steiger died at a Los Angeles-area hospital of pneumonia and kidney failure, said his publicist, Lori De Waal.

AP

Rod Steiger

A devoted practitioner of method acting, Steiger prided himself in undertaking challenging roles, especially real-life persons. "My generation of actors was taught to be able to create different people; that's what an actor is supposed to do," he explained.

In movies and television, he convincingly portrayed such figures as Mussolini, Rasputin, Pope John XXIII, Rudolph Hess, Pontius Pilate, Napoleon, W.C. Fields and Al Capone.

"I'm 60 percent virgin and 40 percent whore," he claimed in a 2000 TV interview. "I've not sold out that much, and I've made my own mistakes."

He admitted that he made a big mistake in declining the lead in "Patton," believing the film would glorify war and killing. George C. Scott played the role, and it brought him an Academy Award, which he refused.

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/070902dnentsteiger.637d4752.html

[scouse]

"I'm 60 percent virgin and 40 percent whore," he claimed in a 2000 TV interview.

He also was 100% pure socialist, bottom feeding bas***d. I remember the hatchet job he did on Elia Kazan when Kazan was to be given a special Oscar for the body of his works.

I could never make my mind up whether Steiger was good in some roles or whether the roles were so good that they made him seem better. I never forget his role as Judd in Oklahoma....but I will try.

[sola gracia]

I thought the Pawnbroker was a good film. Tough to watch.

One of the most depressing movies that I have ever watched. When he put his hand through the pointed spindle - ohhh, the horror and pain. I don't think I have ever been in a pawn shop since that film.

[TracyPA]

"On The Waterfront" with Marlon Brando. Steiger's great scene with Brando in the taxi. The "I could've been a contender speech" was one of the best scenes in that movie.

[Denver Ditdat]

He's the third. Rosemary Clooney, Ted Williams, and now Rod...

Benjamin O. Davis died less than a week ago, so he's the fourth.

Of course, everything happens in threes if you wait long enough.

[Momaw Nadon]

He's the third. Rosemary Clooney, Ted Williams, and now Rod...

Well, Ted Williams death is still supposedly debatable.

According to the people who froze him, Ted may be revived someday.

[wimpycat]

Regardless of his politics and the fact that he was an all around strange bird, Rod Steiger was an excellent character actor.

I liked him in In the Heat of the Night, On the Waterfront, and I especially liked him as Pontius Pilate in Jesus of Nazareth: "Take him away, take him away, have him flogged as a token of Roman justice!"

[Havisham]

I thought Steiger was miscast in 'Doctor Zhivago'. The role of the cynical Russian aristocrat called for a really devishly handsome rival for Julie Christie's affection. Nevertheless, Steiger did his part well portraying a corrupt and supreme egoist defeated by an unrequited love. I can still see his character tumbling in a raging drunk down the steps of Lara's rooms, cursing and slurring, ending finally in a humiliated heap. Unforgettable.

[catonsville]

He made a lot of films, was in a lot of TV shows.
He needed work so took some lousy parts in some very bad movies.
But he was never dull.

A great actor. He will be missed

[beckett]

Good actor --- pretty good human being from what I could tell. Like many Hollywood artsy types, he seemed to get a little more real as he got older and got some perspective on life.

Hopeless on politics though.

[Silly]

I remember that "Rod Steiger" was the answer to half of the questions in the Entertainment category of the original Trivial Pursuit.

[Jay W]

Oh oh. Doesn't this happen in three's? Who's next?

Steiger's number 3.

What's at issue is who're the first two: Rosemary Clooney, Ted Williams, John Frankenheimer. Clooney may have been too long ago to be the number one of this troika. On the other hand, as one commentator noted, Williams is cryogenically frozen so that he may be revived in the 45th Century to witness the Red Sox finally winning the pennant.

[Pining_4_TX]

believing the film would glorify war and killing

Of course it does! That's why it's so great! "We're gonna grab 'em by the nose and kick 'em in the ass!" Now, that should be our attitude towards terrorists.

[Charlesj]

Try THE HARDER THEY FALL with Humphrey Bogart (his last film) and Steiger as a crooked boxing promoter. Steiger is excellant. (As he was in Pawnbroker and On The Waterfront and Zhivago. I think In The Heat Of The Night's sheriff role ruined him because he played most subsequent roles as the same southern cop, especially noticeable in his Napoleon in WATERLOO.)

[NormsRevenge]

I have seen that old Playhouse 90 Marty show, his performance is excellent, Steiger hit for distance and swung for power but he had a hard time running the bases :-\

Unique BTW, PaTTon would have made a helluva Marine

Semper Fi ;]

[NormsRevenge]

According to the people who froze him, Ted may be revived someday. Yeah, Maybe So, But He'll Never Hit .406 Again!

[kezekiel]

Robin Williams just did a two-part interview with him for Audible.com, and I was surprised how funny Rod Steiger is. He originally wanted to do stand up, as it turns out.

[StormEye]

"Then there was "The Illustrated Man"....."

I remember that movie: "They're not tattoos, they're skin illustrations!" And some people say they can see the future when they long enough at them.

[Argus]

My favorite Steiger performance is as Stanley Hoff, the loathsome studio boss who drives Jack Palance to suicide in THE BIG KNIFE.

[Burr5]

Entwistle is the only one I'll actually miss, but then I'm still young. Not too young to know, however, the Rod Steiger was one of the biggest anti-American commies Hollywood ever produced. Not just a Lib, mind you, but flamingly un-patriotic, and at some important points in our history. Sorry to speak ill of the dead, but I for one won't miss him at all.

[laconic]

Steiger's role of Monsieir Kamarovsky in Doctor Zhivago is still one of the greatest screen performances I've seen. Sharif's comment on Kamarovsky changing with the revolution from tsarist to Boshevik commissar, something on the order of "he seems to be everywhere, friends with everyone and believe in nothing" fits most of the politicians of the western world.