Editing Rod Steiger (section)

===Historical roles and declining fortunes (1970–1981)===
Steiger was offered the title role in ''[[Patton (film)|Patton]]'' (1970), but turned it down because he did not want to glorify war.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cornwell|first1=Rupert|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/rod-steiger-brooding-and-volatile-hollywood-tough-guy-for-more-than-50-years-dies-aged-77-647871.html|title=Rod Steiger, 'brooding and volatile' Hollywood tough guy for more than 50 years, dies aged 77|work=[[The Independent]]|access-date=July 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110913203708/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/rod-steiger-brooding-and-volatile-hollywood-tough-guy-for-more-than-50-years-dies-aged-77-647871.html|archive-date=September 13, 2011 |url-status=dead|date=July 10, 2002}}</ref> The role was then given to [[George C. Scott]], who won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance. Steiger called this refusal his "dumbest career move",<ref name="BBCO">{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1056105.stm | title=Obituary: Rod Steiger | work=BBC News | date=July 9, 2002 | access-date=September 22, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928061140/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1056105.stm | archive-date=September 28, 2015 | url-status=live}}</ref> remarking, "I got on my high horse. I thought I was a pacifist."{{sfn|Herman|1995|p=449}} Instead, he chose to portray [[Napoleon|Napoleon Bonaparte]] opposite [[Christopher Plummer]] in [[Sergei Bondarchuk]]'s ''[[Waterloo (1970 film)|Waterloo]]'' (1970), a co-production between the Soviet Union and Italy. [[Anatoly Efros]] wrote: "I watched with extraordinary respect, no, that is not the right word, with enthusiasm, the acting of Rod Steiger in the role of Napoleon in Waterloo",{{sfn|Эфрос|Thomas|2006|p=114}} while literary critic [[Daniel Burt (author)|Daniel S. Burt]] describes Steiger's Napoleon as an "unusual interpretation", finding him less convincing than Plummer's [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Wellington]].{{sfn|Burt|2001|p=307}}

In 1971, Steiger played a chauvinistic big game hunter, explorer and war hero opposite [[Susannah York]] in Mark Robson's ''[[Happy Birthday, Wanda June]]'',{{sfn|McCaffrey|1992|p=123}} before agreeing to star alongside [[James Coburn]] as Mexican bandit Juan Miranda in [[Sergio Leone]]'s ''[[Duck, You Sucker!]]'', which was alternatively titled ''A Fistful of Dynamite''.<ref>{{cite web |title=''A Fistful of Dynamite''&nbsp;– another Leone restoration |url=http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s26duckyou.html |publisher=[[DVD Talk]] |access-date=August 31, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928061253/http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s26duckyou.html |archive-date=September 28, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="DuckYouSucker">{{cite video | title = Duck, You Sucker, AKA A Fistful of Dynamite (2-Disc Collector's Edition, Sorting Out the Versions) | medium = DVD | publisher = [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] | location = Los Angeles, California | date = 1972}}</ref> Leone was initially dissatisfied with his performance in that he played his character as a serious, [[Emiliano Zapata|Zapata]]-like figure.{{sfn|Fawell|2005|p=146}} As a result, tension grew between Steiger and Leone, including one incident that ended with Steiger walking off during the filming of the scene where Juan's stagecoach is destroyed. After the film's completion, Leone and Steiger were content with the final result, and Steiger praised Leone for his skills as a director.<ref name="DuckYouSucker"/> Steiger auditioned for the role of [[Michael Corleone]] in [[Francis Ford Coppola]]'s ''[[The Godfather]]'' (1972), a film adaptation of [[Italian Americans|Italian American]] author [[Mario Puzo]]'s [[The Godfather (novel)|1969 novel of the same name]], but Puzo felt that Steiger was too old for the part and rejected him.{{Sfn|Mell|2005|p=101}}

Steiger played a rural [[Tennessee]] patriarch and father of [[Jeff Bridges]], at odds with Robert Ryan's character, in ''[[Lolly-Madonna XXX]]'' (1973), which received mixed reviews.<ref>{{cite news |first=Vincent |last=Canby |work=The New York Times |title=''The Lolly Madonna War'' (1973)|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9903E1DB1231EF34BC4A51DFB4668388669EDE|date=February 22, 1973 |access-date=July 22, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928061441/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9903E1DB1231EF34BC4A51DFB4668388669EDE |archive-date=September 28, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Review: ''Lolly-Madonna XXX''|url=https://variety.com/1972/film/reviews/lolly-madonna-xxx-1117792676/|work=Variety|date=January 1973 |access-date=July 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928061745/http://variety.com/1972/film/reviews/lolly-madonna-xxx-1117792676/|archive-date=September 28, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Later that year he was cast as the turban-wearing German officer Guenther von Lutz in [[Duccio Tessari]]'s Italian war comedy ''[[The Heroes (1973 film)|The Heroes]]'', opposite [[Rod Taylor]],{{sfn|Shipman|1980|p=565}} and appeared as "foul-mouthed Sicilian mobster" Eugenio Giannini opposite [[Gian Maria Volonté]]'s [[Lucky Luciano]] in Francesco Rosi's [[Lucky Luciano (film)|film of the same name]].{{sfnm|1a1=Hughes|1y=2011|1p=204|2a1=Maltin|2y=2014|2p=1429}}

In 1975, Steiger portrayed Italian dictator [[Benito Mussolini]] in [[Carlo Lizzani]]'s ''[[Last Days of Mussolini]]'', which received a positive critical reception.{{sfn|Simpson|2011|p=92}} He appeared in [[Claude Chabrol]]'s French picture ''[[Innocents with Dirty Hands]]'', playing the role of Louis Wormser, the wealthy alcoholic husband of [[Romy Schneider]]'s character Julie Wormser.{{sfn|Halliwell|1996|p=580}} It was poorly received by critics, and Steiger found the director, whom he had admired, a bitter disappointment.{{sfn|Hutchinson|1998|p=136}} He was highly critical of Chabrol's lack of communication and aloofness from the production, and preference for playing chess on set instead of talking through scenes.{{sfn|Hutchinson|1998|p=188}} Vincent Canby of ''The New York Times'' dismissed it as "little more than a soap opera", writing: "The performances are of a piece—uniformly atrocious. Mr. Steiger surpasses his own earlier records for lumbering busyness. Within his first few minutes on screen he (1) gets drunk, (2) whines, (3) pleads for understanding, (4) weeps and (5) goes to bed alone."<ref>{{cite news|author=Canby, Vincent|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E07E3DB123FE334BC4C53DFB767838D669EDE|title=''Les Innocents aux mains Sales'' (1975)|work=The New York Times|date=November 4, 1976|access-date=July 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928061800/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E07E3DB123FE334BC4C53DFB767838D669EDE|archive-date=September 28, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Later that year, Steiger starred as an [[Irish Republican Army]] terrorist who plans to blow up the [[Palace of Westminster|Houses of Parliament]] in [[Don Sharp]]'s British thriller ''[[Hennessy (film)|Hennessy]]''.{{sfn|Connelly|2012|p=133}} John Simon of ''[[New York (magazine)|New York Magazine]]'' wrote: "This fellow Hennessy, as played by Rod Steiger, is about as interesting and likable as a [[Guy Fawkes]] dummy."<ref>{{cite web|title=Nashville Without Tears|first=John|last=Simon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IugCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA66|date=August 11, 1975|work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]]|page=66|issn=0028-7369}}</ref>
[[File:W. C. Fields 1938.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[W. C. Fields]]: Steiger's portrayal of him was poorly received by critics.]]
The following year, Steiger portrayed the comic actor [[W. C. Fields]] in an [[Arthur Hiller]] biopic, ''[[W. C. Fields and Me]]'', for [[Universal Pictures]]. The [[screenplay]], which was based on a [[memoir]] by [[Carlotta Monti]], who was Fields' mistress for the last 14 years of his life, was penned by [[Bob Merrill]]. Steiger read extensively about Fields in preparation for the role, and developed an encyclopaedic knowledge of his career and personal life. He concluded that he would base his characterization around his performance in ''[[The Bank Dick]]'' (1940).<ref name="MAB"/> One day, Fields' mistress Monti turned up on set, and watched the scene where he briefly thanks everybody. Nervous that she might not approve, he broke down in tears after Monti met him after the scene and fondly said "Woody, Woody, Woody, My Woody", a nickname used only by those very close to Fields.<ref name="MAB"/> Despite the energy Steiger put into the picture, like the actor's previous recent films, it was poorly received by critics. Canby called it "dreadful" and described Steiger's portrayal of Fields as a "wax dummy of a character".<ref>{{cite web|author=Canby, Vincent|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C04E3DC173EE334BC4953DFB266838D669EDE|title=''W C Fields and Me'' (1976)|work=The New York Times|date=April 1, 1976|access-date=July 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928061937/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C04E3DC173EE334BC4953DFB266838D669EDE|archive-date=September 28, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Lucia Bozzola of ''The New York Times'' later referred to Steiger's portrayal of Fields as "superb", but noted that his Hollywood career had "undeniably fallen from his 1950s and '60s heights".<ref name="NYT bio"/>

Steiger played [[Pontius Pilate]] in [[Franco Zeffirelli]]'s TV [[miniseries]] ''[[Jesus of Nazareth (TV series)|Jesus of Nazareth]]'' (1977). [[Stacy Keach]], who portrayed [[Barabbas]], expressed his joy at the opportunity to work with Steiger, describing him as "generous and opinionated".{{sfn|Keach|2013|p=119}} In 1978, Steiger played a senator in Norman Jewison's ''[[F.I.S.T. (film)|F.I.S.T.]]'', opposite [[Sylvester Stallone]], who played a Cleveland warehouse worker involved in the labor union leadership of the fictional organisation named Federation of Inter-State Truckers.{{sfn|Greene|2010|p=109}} ''[[Love and Bullets (1979 film)|Love and Bullets]]'', later that year, in which Steiger appeared as a mafia boss, was poorly received; [[Roger Ebert]] dismissed it as a "hopelessly confused hodgepodge of chases, killings, enigmatic meetings and separations, and insufferably overacted scenes by Steiger alternating with alarmingly underacted scenes by [Charles] Bronson".<ref name="Ebert79">{{cite web|url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/love-and-bullets-1979|title=''Love and Bullets''|author=Ebert, Roger|publisher=RogerEbert.com|date=January 1, 1979|access-date=July 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928062044/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/love-and-bullets-1979|archive-date=September 28, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> The following year, Steiger was cast as a general opposite Richard Burton and Robert Mitchum in [[Andrew V. McLaglen]]'s war film ''[[Breakthrough (1979 film)|Breakthrough]]'', set on the [[Western Front (World War II)|Western Front]].{{sfn|Bowker|2000|p=218}} In ''[[The Amityville Horror (1979 film)|The Amityville Horror]]'' (1979), Steiger appeared as a disturbed priest, who is invited to perform an [[exorcism]] on a haunted house. Again Steiger was accused of overacting; [[Janet Maslin]] of ''The New York Times'' wrote: "Mr. Steiger bellows and weeps and overdoes absolutely everything. He won't even pick up the phone before it's rung 12 or 15 times."<ref>{{cite news|author=Maslin, Janet|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A07EFD6143EE732A25754C2A9619C946890D6CF|title=''The Amityville Horror'' (1979)|work=The New York Times|date=July 27, 1979|access-date=July 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160426064528/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A07EFD6143EE732A25754C2A9619C946890D6CF|archive-date=April 26, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> Pauline Kael thought that Steiger's "spiritual agony was enough to shatter the camera lens".{{sfn|Hutchinson|1998|p=141}}
[[File:Mussolini biografia.jpg|thumb|upright|right|[[Benito Mussolini]]: Steiger portrayed him for the second time on screen in 1981's Libyan-funded ''[[Lion of the Desert]]''.]]
In 1980, Steiger received two [[Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actor]] nominations for his roles in ''[[Klondike Fever]]'' and ''[[The Lucky Star (1980 film)|The Lucky Star]]'', both Canadian productions. ''Klondike Fever'' is based on [[Jack London]]'s journey from [[San Francisco]] to the [[Klondike, Yukon|Klondike]] gold fields in 1898.{{sfn|Thompson|Randall|2010|p=245}} Steiger revisited his role as Mussolini in ''[[Lion of the Desert]]'', a production that was financed by [[Muammar Gaddafi]], and which co-starred [[Anthony Quinn]] as [[Bedouin]] tribal leader [[Omar al-Mukhtar|Omar Mukhtar]], fighting the Italian army in the years leading up to World War II. The Italian authorities reportedly banned the film in 1982, as it was considered damaging to the army,{{sfn|Curtis|2010|p=199}} and it was not shown on Italian television until a state visit by Gaddafi in 2009. It received critical acclaim in Britain, where it was praised in particular for the quality of its battle scenes.<ref>{{cite web|author=Tunzelmann, Alex von|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2011/jun/30/lion-of-the-desert-libya-gaddafi|title=''Lion of the Desert'' roars for Libya's rebels|work=The Guardian|date=June 30, 2011|access-date=July 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928062231/http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2011/jun/30/lion-of-the-desert-libya-gaddafi|archive-date=September 28, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Later in 1981, Steiger won the [[Montreal World Film Festival|Montréal World Film Festival Award for Best Actor]] for his portrayal of white-bearded Orthodox [[rabbi]] Reb Saunders in [[Jeremy Kagan]]'s ''[[The Chosen (1981 film)|The Chosen]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ffm-montreal.org/en/awards/36-awards-of-the-montreal-world-film-festival-1981.html|title=Awards of the Montreal World Film Festival&nbsp;– 1981|publisher=Montréal World Film Festival|access-date=July 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928062407/http://www.ffm-montreal.org/en/awards/36-awards-of-the-montreal-world-film-festival-1981.html|archive-date=September 28, 2015|url-status=usurped}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Fathers And Sons|work=New York|first=David|last=Denby|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m-cCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA54|date=May 17, 1982|page=54|issn=0028-7369}}</ref> Janet Maslin commented that Steiger's "slow, rolling delivery" was more "numbing than prepossessing",<ref>{{cite news|author=Maslin, Janet|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B00E6D71038F933A05757C0A964948260|title=''The Chosen''|work=The New York Times|date=April 30, 1982|access-date=July 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928062254/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B00E6D71038F933A05757C0A964948260|archive-date=September 28, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> though a critic from ''Variety'' thought it an "exceptional performance as the somewhat tyrannical but loving patriarch".{{sfn|Hutchinson|1998|p=149}}