On May 24, 1953, Steiger played the title role in Paddy Chayefsky's "Marty" episode of the Goodyear Television Playhouse. The role had originally been intended for Martin Ritt, who later became a director. "Marty" is the story of a lonely and homely butcher from the Bronx in search of love. The play was a critical success that increased Steiger's public exposure; Tom Stempel noted that he brought "striking intensity to his performance as Marty, particularly in giving us Marty's pain". As Steiger refused to sign a seven-year studio contract, he was replaced with Ernest Borgnine in the film Marty (1955), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, as well as the Best Actor Oscar for Borgnine. 1953 proved to be Steiger's breakthrough year; he garnered Sylvania Awards for Marty and four other best performances of the year—as Vishinsky and Rudolf Hess in two episodes of You Are There, as gangster Dutch Schultz in a thriller, and as a radar operator in My Brother's Keeper. thumb|left|250px|Steiger with Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront (1954) For his role as Charley "the Gent", the brother of Marlon Brando's character in Elia Kazan's On the Waterfront (1954), Steiger was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Film writer Leo Braudy wrote that the "incessantly repeated images of its taxicab confrontation between Brando and Rod Steiger have made the film iconic". The taxicab scene took eleven hours to shoot and was heavily scripted, despite Brando fuelling the popular myth in his autobiography that the scene was improvised. Brando stated that seven takes were needed because Steiger could not stop crying, which Steiger found to be unfair and inaccurate. Although Steiger retained great respect for Brando as an actor, he disliked him as a person and frequently complained during the production of Brando's "predilection for leaving the set" immediately after shooting his scenes. Steiger later remarked: "We didn't get to know each other at all. He always flew solo and I haven't seen him since the film. I do resent him saying he's just a hooker, and that actors are whores". Steiger also responded unfavorably when he learned that Kazan had been awarded an honorary Oscar by the Academy in 1999. In a 1999 interview with BBC News, Steiger said he probably would not have done On the Waterfront if he'd known at the time that Kazan had provided the House Un-American Activities Committee with names of performers suspected of being Communists.
On May 24 1953 Steiger played the title role in Paddy Chayefsky's "Marty" episode of the Goodyear Television Playhouse The role had originally been intended for Martin Ritt who later became a director "Marty" is the story of a lonely and homely butcher from the Bronx in search of love The play was a critical success that increased Steiger's public exposure; Tom Stempel noted that he brought "striking intensity to his performance as Marty particularly in giving us Marty's pain" As Steiger refused to sign a seven-year studio contract he was replaced with Ernest Borgnine in the film Marty (1955) which won the Academy Award for Best Picture as well as the Best Actor Oscar for Borgnine 1953 proved to be Steiger's breakthrough year; he garnered Sylvania Awards for Marty and four other best performances of the year—as Vishinsky and Rudolf Hess in two episodes of You Are There as gangster Dutch Schultz in a thriller and as a radar operator in My Brother's Keeper thumb|left|250px|Steiger with Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront (1954) For his role as Charley "the Gent" the brother of Marlon Brando's character in Elia Kazan's On the Waterfront (1954) Steiger was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Film writer Leo Braudy wrote that the "incessantly repeated images of its taxicab confrontation between Brando and Rod Steiger have made the film iconic" The taxicab scene took eleven hours to shoot and was heavily scripted despite Brando fuelling the popular myth in his autobiography that the scene was improvised Brando stated that seven takes were needed because Steiger could not stop crying which Steiger found to be unfair and inaccurate Although Steiger retained great respect for Brando as an actor he disliked him as a person and frequently complained during the production of Brando's "predilection for leaving the set" immediately after shooting his scenes Steiger later remarked "We didn't get to know each other at all He always flew solo and I haven't seen him since the film I do resent him saying he's just a hooker and that actors are whores" Steiger also responded unfavorably when he learned that Kazan had been awarded an honorary Oscar by the Academy in 1999 In a 1999 interview with BBC News Steiger said he probably would not have done On the Waterfront if he'd known at the time that Kazan had provided the House Un-American Activities Committee with names of performers suspected of being Communists