Actor Rod Steiger Dies at 77
His publicist, Lori de Waal, said he died of pneumonia and kidney failure.
Steiger, who won an Oscar in 1967 for his portrayal of a bigoted sheriff in the movie "In the Heat of the Night", was a prolific actor who was generally seen as one of the greatest thespians of his generation, along with the likes of Marlon Brando, with whom he starred in the landmark movie "On the Waterfront".
Born as Rodney Stephen Steiger on April 14, 1925, in Westhampton, New York, he grew up in New Jersey and ran away from an unsettled home when he was 16 to join the navy and serve in the south pacific during World War II.
His first break came when he was accepted into New York's fabled actors studio, where he learned method acting in a class that included Brando.
Steiger worked extensively in television between 1947 and 1953 and made his film debut with a minor role in Fred Zinnemann's "Teresa" in 1951.
Three years later, he appeared in "On the Waterfront", which he followed with "Oklahoma!" one of his greatest roles was in the 1965 movie "The Pawnbroker", in which he starred as a Jewish immigrant in New York. He earned an Oscar nomination for the role - and won the coveted prize two years later for "In the Heat of the Night".
Other notable films in Steiger's long career, which spanned more than 100 films, include "Al Capone", "Doctor Zhivago", and "No Way to Treat a Lady". His work rate dropped off in the 1980s as he battled with depression.