Rod Steiger: Memoirs of a Friendship

Ever since seeing Rod Steiger in "Dr. Zhivago" and "Oklahoma", I've wondered what he was really like. Now that I'm in the midst of collaborating on a book about the 1940s-1950s era of live television, Mr. Steiger is again brought to mind. How skillfully he had played the title role in "Marty"! So I got Tom Hutchinson's biography of his friend Rod Steiger and sat down to read. It was difficult to put the book down. This tome gives us the true story of an acting legend. How do I know? Because not only was Mr. Hutchinson a close friend of Mr. Steiger's, but Steiger himself also contributed his memories and thoughts to the book, perhaps as a favor to his dear friend. It answers questions: Why did Steiger not sign with any particular studio? Was he difficult to work with? Why was he not in the movie version of "Marty"? Which was his favorite type of role? What was really important to him? Was he a good husband and father? What was it like for him to suffer such a serious bout of depression? A bonus feature of this book is a chapter containing poetry that Steiger had written, plus a National Film Theatre interview he did before an appreciative audience. Author Tom Hutchinson did a marvelous job of showing us the real Rod Steiger and enabling us to like what we see.