Rod Steiger was born on April 14, 1925, in Westhampton, New York. He trained at the Actors Studio in New York City and made his Broadway debut in 1951, in Night Music. Steiger's first major film role was in On the Waterfront (1954), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor. His other work includes Dr. Zhivago, The Pawnbroker and In the Heat of the Night, for which he won an Academy Award for best actor. Steiger died in 2002.