However, by the time he starred in Houdini (1953) with his wife Janet Leigh, “his first clear success,” notes critic David Thomson, his acting had progressed immensely.He achieved his first serious recognition as a dramatic actor in Sweet Smell of Success (1957) with co-star Burt Lancaster. The following year he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in The Defiant Ones (1958) alongside Sidney Poitier (who was also nominated in the same category).