One of my favorites actors passed away today. His performance, and his interplay with Sidney Poitier in In the Heat of the Night gave me insight in race relations that I had never before been aware of (as a 9 year ild Northerner).
I mourn his loss, and have just watched the above film again on DVD. It still amazes.
Oh no. I can’t believe I missed this. I always keep up with celebrity passings. This proves I’ve been busy this week.
My mother is going to completely go nuts.
I mourn his death as well. R.I.P., Mr. Steiger. 
Great character actor.
This past week we’ve lost:
Rosemary Clooney; Ted Williams; John Frankenheimer; Katy Jurado; and now Rod Steiger. That’s a lot of collective talent.
I just saw Rod Steiger on Dinner for Five; he really lent the show some weight and dignity. It was great to see all these young pups, most of whom started out as standup comics, talk and listen to Steiger about acting and independent films and what a jerk Marlon Brando is to work with.
Baldwin, we also lost Ward Kimball, one of the great Nine Old Men of Disney’s animation studios. He was a man of astounding talent.
Steiger’s death means a great loss to the world of acting. I think one of the first times I saw him was as the fey mortician Mr. Joyboy in The Loved One. A great, great performer.
I particularly enjoyed him in 1965’s The Pawnbroker. An excellent, excellent actor.
Had no idea John Frankenheimer had passed, too.
Don’t forget Steiger in On the Waterfront.
Good old Rod. What a loss. My favorite of his roles (and this is a personal fave, not intended to demean his better or more critically acclaimed accomplishments) is his title role in 1959’s “Al Capone” - being a life-long Chicagoan, he really made me proud of my native city’s heritage, for better or worse.
Hopefully, if some good can come of this terrible blow, we can all go out and rent this flick, showcasing the talents of not only Rod the Mod, but also James “The Gorilla” Gregory, Martin Balsam, Nehemiah Persoff, and countless other 1950s0-era luminaries. God Speed, Rod! We shall miss you!..Timmy
There used to be an electronics store called Adrays nearby. Pico and Sepulveda, I think. I was in there one day in the late 1980s to buy a turntable. In line ahead of me was an older gentleman buying a CD deck. He looked at me and said he didn’t understand this new technology, and he made a self-depreciating remark about getting a CD player. When the clerk asked for his name he said in a loud, clear voice, “Rod Steiger.”
I knew I’d seen him somewhere! It was Rod Steiger, all right.
When he gave his phone number to the clerk, it stuck in my head. I even remembered it when I got home. Of course, I never called it.
So long, Rod. I liked your work.
A great actor indeed.
I remember how strong he felt about Elia Kazan getting the honourary oscar a few years back. He disagreed with it in a very big way. The man behind “Rod Steiger” went up in my books when I saw that.
Don’t forget the part of Komarovsky in Doctor Zhivago. He made the character a pathetic, utterly loathsome creature, only slightly ridiculous.
In 1965, Steiger’s performance in The Pawnbroker lost the Best Actor Academy Award to Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou - how’s that for an injustice?
Being a big W. C. Fields fan, I also liked him in W. C. Fields and Me even though I didn’t really care for the book on which the film is based.