Rod Steiger’s Family Battle Over His Awards Revealed

His daughter Anna Steiger, now 65, claims awards belonging to him had been bought with out her data following the 2024 demise of his widow, actress Joan Benedict, who was 96.

Anna says a authorized settlement assured the trophies would go to her – but a number of have since appeared at high-profile Hollywood auctions.

A supply advised us Anna defined to buddies: “By likelihood I seemed by way of a Julien’s catalog and all of a sudden I noticed my father’s awards. They had been meant to return to me, and as an alternative, they had been being bought.

“It was heartbreaking.”

She is alleged to have added: “It feels merciless. These had been the bodily symbols of his life’s work, and they’re slipping away.”

Among the many gadgets auctioned had been Steiger’s Berlin Bear statuette for The Pawnbroker (1964) and his David Di Donatello award for The Sergeant (1968).

The Academy Award itself couldn’t be bought as a consequence of Oscar guidelines, however Anna insists the opposite prizes had been lined by the inheritance settlement.

Steiger’s second spouse, Claire Bloom, 94, who attended the Oscars with him in 1968, mentioned the award represented his best skilled triumph.

She advised mates: “It meant every thing to him – he needed it desperately as a result of he had come from nothing. It had been such a fantastic battle.”

Steiger, a celebrated Methodology actor, was identified for portraying bruising, imperious males in movies comparable to On the Waterfront (1954), Physician Zhivago (1965), and The Hurricane (1999).

He married Benedict, his fifth spouse, in 2000. She was granted possession of his awards throughout her lifetime below the property’s phrases, however the settlement stipulated they’d go to Anna upon Benedict’s demise and ultimately to the Academy of Movement Image Arts and Sciences.

After Benedict died in June 2024, Anna reached out to her stepsister, Claudia Myhers, 68, however was advised the awards might need been discarded throughout Benedict’s battle with dementia.

Anna advised buddies that rationalization made little sense.

“Mates of my stepmother insisted she treasured my father’s issues,” she mentioned, including: “I consider they had been knowingly bought.”

Data present Steiger’s Berlin Bear bought for $9,100, and his David Di Donatello fetched $3,900.

Julien’s public sale home mentioned it had obtained documentation from a member of the family however rejected Anna’s claims of poor provenance checks.

Pissed off, Anna even posed as a purchaser below the title Lily Pons to verify the vendor’s id.

“They advised me it was a member of the family – and naturally I knew precisely who that was,” she confided to her inside circle.

Bloom described her daughter’s marketing campaign as an act of devotion moderately than greed, saying it’s about her love for her father and the obligation she feels to guard his legacy.

Anna admits she has thought-about authorized motion, however has been warned her possibilities of reclaiming the awards are slim.

“I am advised the combat may destroy me emotionally and financially,” she advised mates.

“However I can not ignore the cruelty of being reduce out of my father’s historical past. It is simply unhappy.”