A vintage 5 x 3½ card signed in person by Rod Steiger (1925 - 2002), the Oscar-winning American actor noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. Ranked as "one of Hollywood's most charismatic and dynamic stars", he is closely associated with the art of method acting, embodying the characters he played. He starred as Marlon Brando's mobster brother Charley in On the Waterfront (1954), the title character Sol Nazerman in The Pawnbroker (1964) which won him the Silver Bear for Best Actor, and as police chief Bill Gillespie opposite Sidney Poitier in the film In the Heat of the Night (1967) which won him the Academy Award for Best Actor. He portrayed an opportunistic Russian politician in David Lean's Doctor Zhivago (1965), and a serial killer of many guises in No Way to Treat a Lady (1968). During the 1970s, Steiger increasingly turned to European productions in his search for more demanding roles. He portrayed Napoleon Bonaparte in Waterloo (1970), a Mexican bandit in Sergio Leone's Duck, You Sucker! (1971), Benito Mussolini in Last Days of Mussolini (1975), and ended the decade playing a disturbed priest in The Amityville Horror (1979). From the 1980s, heart problems and depression took their toll on Steiger's career, and he found it difficult to find employment. He died of pneumonia and kidney failure as a result of complications from surgery for a gallbladder tumour in 2002, aged 77.