The well known actor Rod Steiger is a concentration camp survivor living in New York in the 1964 American drama film "The Pawnbroker". This was the first film produced entirely in the U. S. to deal with the Holocaust from the viewpoint of a survivor. The film was directed by Sidney Lumet and produced by Philip Langner, Roger Lewis, and Ely Landau. The screenplay was adapted by Morton S. Fine and David Friedkin from the novel of the same name by Edward Lewis Wallant.

In the film, Steiger stars as Sol Nazerman, a Jewish pawnbroker and Holocaust survivor. He is haunted by memories of his life in a Nazi prison camp. He is embittered and broken by his experience. Sol becomes increasingly removed from his friends and his business in Harlem. The big question for Sol is can he turn his life and his shop around?

Steiger's career crested in 1965 with "The Pawnbroker". His performance as a Jew living a secluded life in Harlem brought him a second Academy Award nomination. This film would remain the film of which Steiger was most proud.

Born Rodney Stephen Steiger in April 1925 in Westhampton, on Long Island, NY, Steiger was 77 years old when he died. He died at a Los Angeles area hospital in the morning of pneumonia and kidney failure. During a TV interview, the host asked Steiger how he would like to die. He replied: "I don't want to, but if it's in front of a camera I wouldn't mind." His preferred tombstone: "See you later."

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