Ralph Meeker
Born: 1920-11-21 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Died: 1988-08-05
Known For: Acting
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.
Filmography
2004
- Los Angeles Plays Itself as Mike Hammer in Kiss Me Deadly (archive footage)
2002
- The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller as Lt. Driscoll (archive footage)
1980
- Without Warning as Dave
1979
- Winter Kills as Gameboy Baker
1978
- Kaz
- The Eddie Capra Mysteries
- Hi-Riders as Mike
- The Alpha Incident as Charlie
- My Boys Are Good Boys as Bert Morton
1977
1976
- The Food of the Gods as Bensington
1975
- Barbary Coast as Big Lou Hobart
- Brannigan as Capt. Moretti
- The Dead Don't Die as Lieutenant Reardon
- Johnny Firecloud as Colby
1974
- Police Woman
- Harry O
- Run, Joe, Run
- Cry Panic as Chuck Braswell
- Night Games as Dutch Armbreck
- The Girl on the Late, Late Show as Inspector DeBiesse
1973
- Police Story
- The Evil Touch
- Toma
- Faraday and Company as Ed Kelso
- Birds of Prey as Jim McAndrew
- You'll Never See Me Again as Will Alden
- Angela - Love Comes Quietly as Ben Hoeksema
1972
- The Rookies
- The Night Stalker as Bernie Jenks
- The Mind Snatchers as The Major
1971
- Cannon
- Primus
- The Anderson Tapes as Police Captain 'Iron Balls' Delaney
- The Reluctant Heroes as Capt. Luke Danvers
1970
- I Walk the Line as Carl McCain
- Lost Flight as Glenn Walkup
1969
- Room 222
- The Devil's Eight as Burl
1968
- The Name of the Game as Senator Goddard
- The Detective as Curran
1967
- Ironside
- The High Chaparral as Tracy Conlin
- The Dirty Dozen as Captain Stuart Kinder
- Custer
- The St. Valentine's Day Massacre as George Clarence 'Bugs' Moran
- Gentle Giant as Fog Hanson
1966
- Tarzan
- The Green Hornet as Earl Evans
1965
- The F.B.I. as King Hogan
1963
- The Outer Limits as John Dexter
- Kraft Suspense Theatre as Harly Clay
- Wall of Noise as Matt Rubio
1962
1961
- The Defenders as Floyd Cooper
- Tallahassee 7000
- Something Wild as Mike
- Ada as Colonel Yancey
- A Holster Full Of Law as Frank Clell
1960
1959
1958
- Wanted: Dead or Alive as Martin Ash
- The Texan
1957
- Paths of Glory as Cpl. Philippe Paris
- Run of the Arrow as Lieutenant Driscoll
- The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown as Mike Valla
- Four Women in Black as Carbine Webb
1956
- Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre as Steve Elkins
- A Woman's Devotion as Trevor Stevenson
1955
- The 20th Century Fox Hour
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Carl Spann
- Kiss Me Deadly as Mike Hammer
- Desert Sands as Capt. David Malcolm
- Big House, U.S.A as Geraldo 'Jerry' Barker aka Iceman
1954
- Climax! as Alex Hill
1953
- Letter to Loretta as Joe Martin
- The Naked Spur as Roy Anderson
- Jeopardy as Lawson the Fugitive
- Code Two as Chuck O'Flair
1952
- Shadow in the Sky as Burt
- Glory Alley as Socks Barbarrosa
- Somebody Loves Me as Benny Fields
1951
- Hallmark Hall of Fame as Wally Walters
- Schlitz Playhouse of Stars as Rich Adams
- Teresa as Sgt. Dobbs
- Four in a Jeep as Sergeant William Long
1950
- Lux Video Theatre as Nicky Hanks
1948
- Studio One as Steve Windom
- The Ed Sullivan Show as Self