Rod Steiger (April 14, 1925 – July 9, 2002) was an American actor.

He was born Rodney Stephen Steiger to Lutheran parents in Westhampton, New York. He was of French, Scottish, and German descent^* (the origin of his surname). He never knew his father, and was raised by his alcoholic mother before running away from home at age sixteen to join the United States Navy during World War II, where he saw combat on destroyers in the Pacific. After the war, he returned to New Jersey and joined a drama group before studying drama full-time under Lee Strasberg and Elia Kazan at The Actor's Studio.

Steiger appeared in over 100 motion pictures. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of Sheriff Bill Gillespie in In the Heat of the Night (1967) opposite Sidney Poitier.

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