Ralph Meeker
ActingAlso Known As
Ralph Rathgeber
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.
Movies
(48 total)
Paths of Glory
as Cpl. Philippe Paris
The Dirty Dozen
as Captain Stuart Kinder
Kiss Me Deadly
as Mike Hammer
The Naked Spur
as Roy Anderson
The Anderson Tapes
as Police Captain 'Iron Balls' Delaney
Without Warning
as Dave
The Night Stalker
as Bernie Jenks
The Food of the Gods
as Bensington
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
as George Clarence 'Bugs' Moran
Brannigan
as Capt. Moretti
The Detective
as Curran
Los Angeles Plays Itself
as Mike Hammer in Kiss Me Deadly (archive footage)
Winter Kills
as Gameboy Baker
Run of the Arrow
as Lieutenant Driscoll
I Walk the Line
as Carl McCain
Jeopardy
as Lawson the Fugitive
Something Wild
as Mike
Big House, U.S.A
as Geraldo 'Jerry' Barker aka Iceman
The Alpha Incident
as Charlie
Ada
as Colonel Yancey
TV Shows
(52 total)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as Carl Spann
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as Carl Borden
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as John Forbes
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as Mel Reeves
The Outer Limits
as John Dexter
The Green Hornet
as Earl Evans
Wanted: Dead or Alive
as Martin Ash
The High Chaparral
as Tracy Conlin
The F.B.I.
as King Hogan
The F.B.I.
as Scott Martin
The F.B.I.
as Graham Newcomb
The Ed Sullivan Show
as Self
