Thespian Rod Steiger’s dead

Screen actor Rod Steiger, an intense and versatile performer who won an Academy Award for his role as a bigoted small-town sheriff in the ra...

Screen actor Rod Steiger, an intense and versatile performer who won an Academy Award for his role as a bigoted small-town sheriff in the racially charged 1967 film In the Heat of the Night, died on Tuesday at age 77.

Steiger, who brought a volatile presence to an array of characters he played during a 50-year career — from the racketeer who ‘‘shoulda looked out for’’ kid brother Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront to a concentration camp survivor in The Pawnbroker — succumbed to pneumonia and kidney failure, publicist Lori DeWaal said.

Steiger, Oscar nominated for both On the Waterfront and The Pawnbroker before winning Hollywood’s biggest honour for In the Heat of the Night, died at a Los Angeles-area hospital where he had been recovering from recent gall bladder surgery, DeWaal said.

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Steiger gained attention as an advocate for mental health awareness, going public with his own struggle with depression.

He worked with legendary writers and directors. With more than 100 roles in widely divergent film and TV projects to his credit, Steiger was determined to be among ‘‘best-connected’’ actors according to two prominent mathematicians following the so-called ‘‘six degrees of separation principle.’’ (LATWP)

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