Ralph Meeker

DOB: 1920-11-21

DOD: 1988-08-05

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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ralph Meeker, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Starred In

1957
Movie

Paths of Glory

1967
Movie

The Dirty Dozen

1953
Movie

The Naked Spur

1971
Movie

The Anderson Tapes

1957
Movie

Run of the Arrow

1956
Movie

A Woman's Devotion

1978
Movie

The Alpha Incident

1953
Movie

Jeopardy

1979
Movie

Winter Kills

1975
Movie

The Dead Don't Die

1968
Movie

The Detective

1972
Movie

The Night Stalker

1955
Movie

Big House, U.S.A

1980
Movie

Without Warning

1953
Movie

Code Two

1955
Movie

Kiss Me Deadly

1975
Movie

Johnny Firecloud

1961
Movie

Something Wild

1970
Movie

I Walk the Line

1973
Movie

Birds of Prey

1972
Movie

The Mind Snatchers

1961
Movie

Ada

1952
Movie

Shadow in the Sky

1969
Movie

The Devil's Eight

1955
Movie

Desert Sands

1952
Movie

Somebody Loves Me

1951
Movie

Teresa

1952
Movie

Glory Alley

1970
Movie

Lost Flight

1967
Movie

Gentle Giant

1978
Movie

Hi-Riders

1963
Movie

Wall of Noise

1975
Movie

Brannigan

1951
Movie

Four in a Jeep

1974
Movie

Cry Panic

1973
Movie

Love Comes Quietly

1974
Movie

Night Games

1977
Tv

CHiPs

1972
Tv

The Rookies

1965
Tv

The F.B.I.

1960
Tv

Route 66

1978
Tv

Kaz

1969
Tv

Room 222

1948
Tv

Studio One

1971
Tv

Cannon

1974
Tv

Run, Joe, Run

1967
Tv

Ironside

1962
Tv

Going My Way

1974
Tv

Harry O

1974
Tv

Police Woman

1973
Tv

Police Story

1954
Tv

Climax!

1966
Tv

Tarzan

1975
Tv

Barbary Coast

1973
Tv

Toma

1958
Tv

The Texan

1967
Tv

Custer

1961
Tv

The Defenders

1959
Tv

Not for Hire

1971
Tv

Primus

1965
Tv

The F.B.I.

1965
Tv

The F.B.I.

1948
Tv

Studio One

1954
Tv

Climax!