Editing Rod Steiger (section)

===Struggling actor (1957–1963)===
[[File:Diana Dors and Rod Steiger in The Unholy Wife trailer.jpg|thumb|left|280px|Steiger with [[Diana Dors]] in ''[[The Unholy Wife]]'' (1957)]]
Steiger appeared in three films released in 1957. The first was [[John Farrow]]'s film noir ''[[The Unholy Wife]]'', in which he played a wealthy [[Napa Valley AVA|Napa Valley]] vintner who marries a ''[[femme fatale]]'' named Phyllis ([[Diana Dors]]). In its original review of the film, ''[[The New York Times]]'' described Steiger's performance as "curious" further stating that the actor's voice modulation "ranges from Marlon Brando to Ronald Colman and back".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B0CE2D61F3AE53BBC4F53DFB5668383649EDE|title=''The Unholy Wife''|work=The New York Times|date=March 7, 1958|access-date=July 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925045014/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B0CE2D61F3AE53BBC4F53DFB5668383649EDE|archive-date=September 25, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> During the production of [[Samuel Fuller]]'s ''[[Run of the Arrow]]'', in which he played a Confederate army veteran who refuses to accept defeat following the surrender of [[Robert E. Lee|General Robert E. Lee]] at [[Battle of Appomattox Court House|Appomattox]] at the end of the [[American Civil War]], Steiger badly sprained his ankle before shooting one of the battle scenes and was unable to walk, let alone run. Fuller instead got one of the Native American extras to run in Steiger's place, which is why the scene was shot showing only the feet, instead of using close-ups.{{sfn|Fuller|Peary|2012|p=25}} Steiger had researched the history behind the film and decided to play the character as an Irishman, becoming "the first Irish cowboy" as he put it.{{sfn|Hutchinson|1998|p=84}} Later that year, Steiger took the lead role in the British thriller ''[[Across the Bridge (film)|Across the Bridge]]'', in which he played a German conman with British citizenship who goes into hiding in Mexico after embezzling company funds. Film critic [[Dennis Schwartz]] stated that Steiger gave "one of his greatest performances".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://homepages.sover.net/~ozus/acrossthebridge.htm | title=''Across the Bridge'' | publisher=Ozus' World Movie Reviews | date=September 26, 2008 | author=Schwartz, Dennis | access-date=September 22, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928054234/http://homepages.sover.net/~ozus/acrossthebridge.htm | archive-date=September 28, 2015 | url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Rod Steiger Al Capone 3.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Steiger as [[Al Capone]] (1959)]]
Steiger portrayed a mastermind criminal seeking to obtain a $500,000 ransom, opposite [[James Mason]] and [[Inger Stevens]], in [[Andrew L. Stone]]'s ''[[Cry Terror!]]'' (1958) for [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]].{{sfn|Hutchinson|1998|p=102}} [[Paul Beckley]] of the ''[[New York Herald Tribune|Herald Tribune]]'' had thought Steiger "superbly laconic",{{sfn|Hutchinson|1998|p=103}} but Dennis Schwartz dismissed the film as "an ill-conceived attempt" with "too many coincidences and contrived plot points to sustain interest".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://homepages.sover.net/~ozus/cryterror.htm |author=Schwartz, Dennis|title=''Cry Terror!''|publisher=Ozus' World Movie Reviews|date=September 9, 2005|access-date=July 21, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928054301/http://homepages.sover.net/~ozus/cryterror.htm|archive-date=September 28, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> The following year, Steiger appeared with [[Claire Bloom]] (whom he later married) in a [[Fay Kanin|Fay]] and [[Michael Kanin]] stage production of [[Akira Kurosawa]]'s [[Rashomon|1950 film]], ''[[Rashomon (play)|Rashomon]]'', where he enacted the role of the bandit originally played by [[Toshiro Mifune]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Saxon|first=Wolfgang|title=Noel Willman, Director, Was 70; Staged 'A Man for All Seasons'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/26/obituaries/noel-willman-director-was-70-staged-a-man-for-all-seasons.html|work=The New York Times|date=December 26, 1988|access-date=July 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928054339/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/26/obituaries/noel-willman-director-was-70-staged-a-man-for-all-seasons.html|archive-date=September 28, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> A major success, it was lauded by critics and nominated for three [[Tony Award]]s. Robert Coleman of the ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' described Steiger's performance as "magnificently animalish", while [[Kenneth Tynan]] of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' thought the acting helped set new standards for Broadway.{{sfn|Hutchinson|1998|p=108}} The same year, Steiger portrayed iconic mobster [[Al Capone]] in the [[Al Capone (film)|film of the same name]].{{efn|Steiger refused the producers' first offer to star in this film because he had thought that the initial screenplay inappropriately romanticized Capone and criminality, which led to him turning down the picture on three occasions. According to Sean Axmaker of TCM, Steiger only agreed to play the role on condition that the producers rewrite the script.<ref>{{cite web|title=''Al Capone'' (1959) |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/26633/al-capone#articles-reviews |publisher=Turner Classic Movies |access-date=July 21, 2015 |first=Sean |last=Axmaker |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924145256/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/26633/Al-Capone/articles.html |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>}} Steiger was particularly keen on demonstrating the showiness of Capone, speaking thunderously, slinging a camel-hair coat over his shoulders and wearing his hat at a jaunty angle.{{sfn|Hutchinson|1998|p=106}} The film, noted for its deglamorized portrayal of the subject,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cEEwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XkgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7026,6298166&dq=al-capone+steiger&hl=en|title=Rod Steiger Plays Villain Again; Now He Deglamorizes Capone|work=[[Deseret News]]|date=May 30, 1959|access-date=July 31, 2015}} p. 8A.</ref> earned Steiger a [[Laurel Awards|Laurel Award for Best Male Dramatic Performance]] nomination. Although Hutchinson, author of ''Rod Steiger: Memoirs of a Friendship'', perceived Steiger's portrayal of Capone to be more of a caricature,{{sfn|Hutchinson|1998|p=106}} George Anastasia and Glen Macnow, authors of the book ''The Ultimate Book of Gangster Movies'', described it as one of the best screen portrayals of Capone.{{sfn|Anastasia|Macnow|2011|p=458}}

Following the success of ''Al Capone'', Steiger played sophisticated thief Paul Mason, who masterminds a caper to steal $4 million in French francs from the underground vault of the casino of [[Monte Carlo]], in the [[Henry Hathaway]] heist film ''[[Seven Thieves]]'' (1960).{{sfn|Parish|Marill|1972|p=208}} [[Bosley Crowther]] of ''The New York Times'' gave a positive review of the film, praising the "nerve-rackingly delicate plot" and the "most elaborate roles" of Steiger and his co-star, [[Edward G. Robinson]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B01EEDD1E3DEF3ABC4A52DFB566838B679EDE | title=''Seven Thieves'' (1960) | work=The New York Times | date=March 12, 1960 | access-date=September 23, 2015 | author=Crowther, Bosley | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928054639/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B01EEDD1E3DEF3ABC4A52DFB566838B679EDE | archive-date=September 28, 2015 | url-status=live}}</ref> The following year, he took the part of a prison psychiatrist who tries to cure the psychological demons of [[Stuart Whitman]]'s character in ''[[The Mark (1961 film)|The Mark]]''. Steiger's performance was so convincing that, after the film was released, he received a call from a psychiatric institution asking him to attend one of their board meetings.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IisVWeKDClw| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102032557/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IisVWeKDClw| archive-date=January 2, 2016 | url-status=dead|title=Rod Steiger on "The Mark"|publisher=Henderson's Film Industries|date=June 9, 2013|access-date=July 22, 2015}}</ref> ''The Mark'' was followed by a role in the European film production of ''[[World in My Pocket]]'' alongside [[Nadja Tiller]].{{sfn|Chase|1962|p=194}} Steiger increasingly played in films in Italy and France during this period. Not only did he believe he had greater credibility and esteem as an actor in Europe, but he approved of the more relaxed filming schedule prevalent there at that time.{{sfn|Hutchinson|1998|pp=110, 114}}
[[File:Rod Steiger the Longest Day.jpg|thumb|left|270px|Steiger in ''[[The Longest Day (film)|The Longest Day]]'' (1962)]]
In 1962, Steiger appeared on Broadway in ''[[Moby Dick—Rehearsed]]'', at the [[Ethel Barrymore Theatre]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Cohen |first=Steve |title=Herman Melville meets Orson Welles |url=http://www.broadstreetreview.com/theater/orson_welless_moby_dick_rehearsed |work=Broad Street Review |date=March 12, 2013 |access-date=July 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923194733/http://www.broadstreetreview.com/theater/orson_welless_moby_dick_rehearsed |archive-date=September 23, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> as well as playing a detective searching for a scientist's ([[Alan Ladd]]) mugger in [[Philip Leacock]]'s ''[[13 West Street]]'' for Columbia Pictures.<ref name="TCM62">{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/92925/13-west-street#articles-reviews|title=''13 West Street'' (1962)|publisher=Turner Classic Movies|access-date=July 22, 2015|first=Richard|last=Harland Smith|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928055043/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/92925/13-West-Street/articles.html|archive-date=September 28, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Steiger played a small role of a destroyer commander among the large ensemble cast of ''[[The Longest Day (film)|The Longest Day]]'', which included [[John Wayne]], [[Richard Todd]], [[Robert Mitchum]], [[Richard Burton]], [[Sean Connery]], and [[Henry Fonda]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/81774/the-longest-day#articles-reviews | title=''The Longest Day'' (1962) | publisher=Turner Classic Movies | access-date=September 22, 2015 | first=Paul | last=Tatara | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928055133/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/81774/The-Longest-Day/articles.html | archive-date=September 28, 2015 | url-status=live}}</ref> According to co-star Richard Burton, Steiger had privately admitted to him that he was in financial trouble at the time and had a face lift, which Burton thought made him look like "one half of a naked ass-hole".{{sfn|Burton|Williams|2012|p=581}} The following year, Steiger played ruthless [[Naples|Neapolitan]] land developer and city councilman Edoardo Nottola, who uses his political power to make personal profit in a large scale [[suburb]]an real estate deal, in [[Francesco Rosi]]'s Italian drama film ''[[Hands over the City]]'' (1963).{{sfn|Scialò|2002|p=167}} According to biographer Francesco Bolzoni, Rosi had cast Steiger in the Italian-language film because he had wanted "a rich interpreter of great capacity" in the part of the land developer.{{sfn|Bolzoni|1986|p=30}}