Ralph Meeker
Acting
- Born:
- 1920-11-21
- Died:
- 1988-08-05
- Place of birth:
- Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Biography
Ralph Meeker (born Ralph Rathgeber; November 21, 1920 – August 5, 1988) was an American actor. He first rose to prominence for his roles in the Broadway productions of Mister Roberts (1948–1951) and Picnic (1953), the former of which earned him a Theatre World Award for his performance. In film, Meeker is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Mike Hammer in Robert Aldrich's 1955 Kiss Me Deadly. Meeker went on to play a series of roles that used his husky and macho screen presence, including a lead role in Stanley Kubrick's military courtroom drama Paths of Glory (1957), as a troubled mechanic opposite Carroll Baker in Something Wild (1961), as a World War II captain in The Dirty Dozen (1967), and in the gangster film The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967). Other credits include supporting roles in I Walk the Line (1970) and Sidney Lumet's The Anderson Tapes (1971). He also had a prolific career in television, appearing as Sergeant Steve Dekker on the series Not for Hire (1959–1960), and in the television horror film The Night Stalker (1972). After suffering a stroke in 1980, Meeker was forced to retire from acting, and died eight years later of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California.
Known For
Filmography
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
Without Warning
Winter Kills
Kaz
The Eddie Capra Mysteries
The Alpha Incident
Hi-Riders
My Boys Are Good Boys
CHiPs
The Food of the Gods
Barbary Coast
Johnny Firecloud
Brannigan
The Dead Don't Die
Police Woman
Harry O
Run, Joe, Run
The Girl on the Late, Late Show
Night Games
Cry Panic
Toma
Faraday and Company
Angela – Love Comes Quietly
The Evil Touch
Police Story
You'll Never See Me Again
Birds of Prey
The Rookies
The Mind Snatchers
The Night Stalker
The Reluctant Heroes
Primus
Cannon
The Anderson Tapes
I Walk the Line
Lost Flight
Room 222
The Devil's Eight
The Name of the Game
The Detective
Gentle Giant
The High Chaparral
Custer
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
The Dirty Dozen
Ironside
The Green Hornet
Tarzan
The F.B.I.
Kraft Suspense Theatre
The Outer Limits
Wall of Noise
Going My Way
Something Wild
A Holster Full Of Law
The Defenders
Ada
Tallahassee 7000
Route 66
Not for Hire
The Texan
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Paths of Glory
Run of the Arrow
The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown
Four Women in Black
A Woman's Devotion
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Desert Sands
The 20th Century Fox Hour
Revenge
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Kiss Me Deadly
Big House, U.S.A
Climax!
Letter to Loretta
Code Two
Jeopardy
The Naked Spur
Somebody Loves Me
Shadow in the Sky
Glory Alley
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Teresa
Four in a Jeep
Lux Video Theatre
Studio One
The Ed Sullivan Show