Ralph Meeker
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1920-11-21
Day of Death
1988-08-05 (67 years old)
Place of Birth
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Ralph Meeker
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.
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Known For
Acting
(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)
Hi-Riders
as Mike
(1978)
My Boys Are Good Boys
as Bert Morton
(1978)
The Alpha Incident
as Charlie
(1976)
The Food of the Gods
as Bensington
(1975)
Brannigan
as Capt. Moretti
(1975)
The Dead Don't Die
as Lieutenant Reardon
(1975)
Johnny Firecloud
as Colby
(1974)
Night Games
as Dutch Armbreck
(1974)
Cry Panic
as Chuck Braswell
(1974)
The Girl on the Late, Late Show
as Inspector DeBiesse
(1973)
You'll Never See Me Again
as Will Alden
(1973)
Birds of Prey
as Jim McAndrew
(1973)
Love Comes Quietly
as Ben Hoeksema
(1972)
The Night Stalker
as Bernie Jenks
(1972)
The Mind Snatchers
as The Major
(1971)
The Anderson Tapes
as Police Captain 'Iron Balls' Delaney
(1971)
The Reluctant Heroes
as Capt. Luke Danvers
(1970)
I Walk the Line
as Carl McCain
(1970)
Lost Flight
as Glenn Walkup
(1969)
The Devil's Eight
as Burl
(1968)
The Detective
as Curran
(1967)
The Dirty Dozen
as Captain Stuart Kinder
(1967)
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
as George Clarence 'Bugs' Moran
(1967)
Gentle Giant
as Fog Hanson
(1963)
Wall of Noise
as Matt Rubio
(1961)
Something Wild
as Mike
(1961)
Ada
as Colonel Yancey
(1961)
A Holster Full Of Law
as Frank Clell
(1957)
Paths of Glory
as Cpl. Philippe Paris
(1957)
Run of the Arrow
as Lieutenant Driscoll
(1957)
The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown
as Mike Valla
(1956)
A Woman's Devotion
as Trevor Stevenson
(1955)
Kiss Me Deadly
as Mike Hammer
(1955)
Desert Sands
as Capt. David Malcolm
(1955)
Big House, U.S.A
as Geraldo 'Jerry' Barker aka Iceman
(1953)
The Naked Spur
as Roy Anderson
(1953)
Jeopardy
as Lawson the Fugitive
(1953)
Code Two
as Chuck O'Flair
(1952)
Glory Alley
as Socks Barbarrosa
(1952)
Somebody Loves Me
as Benny Fields
(1952)
Shadow in the Sky
as Burt
(1951)
Teresa
as Sgt. Dobbs
(1951)
Four in a Jeep
as Sergeant William Long
Crew
(1978)
My Boys Are Good Boys
Executive Producer