Is Rod Steiger the male Geraldine Page?

I'd say Rod Steiger was the male Faye Dunaway and vice versa. Both were actors of tremendous talent and could command the screen like few others. They could own the screen, and could be both incredibly 'big' as well as nuanced and subtle.

On the more negative side, both would sometimes veer off into overacting and go into an autopilot modes (Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, and Barbra Streisand were all guilty of this too).

On top of that, their career trajectories have a lot of crazy similarities:

-Both were involved in television and theatre before they moved on to film.
-Both got Oscar nominated for their breakout film roles - Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde and Steiger in On the Waterfront
-Both lost their first Oscar bids to film veterans (Edmond O'Brien/Katharine Hepburn)
-Both had some career momentum after their breakout roles (Dunaway in The Thomas Crown Affair and Little Big Man[/i]; Steiger in Oklahoma! and The Big Knife) but then had career setbacks
-Both had "comeback" roles that solidified their position in Hollywood and raised their stature like never before (Dunaway in Chinatown and Steiger in The Pawnbroker). Both would be Oscar nominated in these roles and lose again.
-After their 'comeback' roles, both played a series of leading and supporting parts in several major films (Dunaway had The Three and Four Musketeers, The Three Days of the Condor, Voyage of the Damned; Steiger had The Loved One and the huge Doctor Zhivago).
-Both would win Oscars for acclaimed performances on their third and final nominations - Dunaway for Network and Steiger for In the Heat of the Night.
-After their Oscar wins, both would turn down Oscar winning roles (Steiger would turn down Patton and Dunaway would turn down Julia).
-Both would play Golden-Era Hollywood legends in films that would be panned by critics (Dunaway as Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest and Steiger as W.C. Fields in W.C. Fields and Me). Both would be heavily criticized for their performances.
-Both would have a few hits here and there, be in some good TV productions, and a few mainstream hits - but both would never reach their same level of success again.
-Both would be venerated for some very iconic performances.
-Both would be condemned by many for being "difficult"

Both are two of the greatest in my book.