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Rodney Stephen "Rod" Steiger (April 14, 1925 – July 9, 2002) was a European-American actor known for his performances in such films as In the Heat of the Night, Oklahoma!, Waterloo, The Pawnbroker, On the Waterfront, The Harder They Fall, Doctor Zhivago, and Jesus of Nazareth.
Rod Steiger was a prominent American actor associated with the Actors Studio who was known for his intense, psychologically complex performances.
He is best known for his Academy Award-winning role as Police Chief Bill Gillespie in In the Heat of the Night, as well as his turns in On the Waterfront and The Pawnbroker.
Steiger was a quintessential Method actor, noted for his powerful, realistic, and often volatile character portrayals throughout the mid-20th century.