2 Quotes & Sayings By Rod Steiger

Roderick Stephen Steiger was an American film and stage actor whose career spanned from the 1950s to the early 2000s. His distinctive appearance marked him as a quintessential Hollywood leading man; he was nicknamed "America's most distinguished living actor" by James Lipton. Steiger was noted for his imposing stature, deep voice, and distinctive features, which included a bulbous nose and a large mustache. He achieved his greatest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s, winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the 1974 film The Pawnbroker Read more

Steiger had a versatile career that encompassed stage, television, and motion pictures. He was born Roderick Stephen Steiger on May 26, 1936, in Westhampton, New York to Jewish parents Dorothy (née Rabinoff) and William Steiger. He grew up in New York City and attended DeWitt Clinton High School in The Bronx. After graduating from high school he enlisted in the United States Army and served in Germany with an infantry unit of the 101st Airborne Division. Following his discharge from the Army following two years of service, Steiger attended Fordham University on the G.

I. Bill where he took classes such as sociology and psychology. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1959 and went on to study at New York University's Graduate acting program at the Tisch School of the Arts.

After graduating from NYU's program he enrolled at Columbia University Law School but left after two years without receiving a degree or passing the bar exam. Steiger began his acting career Off Broadway before making his big screen debut in Martin Ritt's 1951 short subject Off Limits starring Nancy Olson who would later go on to marry him in 1957. His first feature film appearance was in 1961's All Fall Down starring Shirley MacLaine. Within this year he appeared twice on Broadway including playing John Wilkes Booth opposite Paul Newman in The Long Christmas Dinner which earned him rave reviews by critics alike.

In 1967 he got his first major success playing Franz Kafka's father Joseph Breitling opposite Peter Sellers' father Josef Breitling in Joseph Heller's classic satire Catch-22 which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor alongside George C Scott who won the award that year for Patton along with another nomination for his supporting turn in Midnight Cowboy that same year which also featured Dustin Hoffman who won Best Actor that year for Dog Day Afternoon along with other nominations