Discover the first book dedicated to this iconic film actor, winner of the Oscar for Best Actor in 1968
100th anniversary of his birth this April
ROD STEIGER, SHINE IN THE SHADOWS
A book by Baptiste André
13.5 cm x 19 cm | 200 pages (including photos)
ISBN: 979–10–93798–32-5
He has played Napoleon, Mussolini, and Al Capone. He has acted alongside Marlon Brando, Sidney Poitier, Humphrey Bogart, Julie Christie, Romy Schneider, and Claudia Cardinale. He has been directed by Elia Kazan, Sidney Lumet, Sergio Leone, Francesco Rosi, David Lean, Robert Aldrich, and Tim Burton.
Despite a prolific career in film (nearly 90 movies) and television (some fifty projects, from series to TV movies) spanning fifty years, Rod Steiger remains, on this side of the Atlantic, a relatively unknown actor. Like many other actors and actresses of the early 1950s, Steiger was a product of the Actors Studio tradition, bringing a distinctive gestural and facial expression style to his performances.
This book, the first in French, sheds light on Rod Steiger's acting. By analyzing his roles, his persona, and his physical delivery, we place the actor back at the heart of an artistic scene that had overshadowed him in favor of other, more conventionally attractive contemporary actors. His distinctive appearance and the villainous roles he played throughout his career led to him being overlooked by the general public and the Hollywood industry. The resilience the actor demonstrates is thus reflected in his work and the audacity of his performances.
Exploring some of his most iconic performances ( In the Heat of the Night ) and others less well-known ( The Sergeant ), this book opens the prospect of a detailed and exhaustive study of Rod Steiger's acting, from On the Waterfront (1954) to Mars Attacks! (1996), in the hope of introducing or reintroducing the art of Steigerian acting to a wider audience…
The monographs in the PERSONA Collection are dedicated to the detailed thematic and stylistic study of an actor's performance in films from various periods and cinematic traditions, from classic Hollywood to contemporary French cinema. This collection aims to decipher the specific characteristics of actors' performances, but also to explore the identity of their characters through a precise analysis of their characterizations and on-screen representations, drawing particularly on a rich collection of stills.
Release date: September 23, 2025
