Ralph Meeker
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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
Credits
Paths of Glory (1957)
as Cpl. Philippe Paris
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
as Captain Stuart Kinder
The Night Stalker (1972)
as Bernie Jenks
The Naked Spur (1953)
as Roy Anderson
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
as Mike Hammer
Winter Kills (1979)
as Gameboy Baker
The Detective (1968)
as Curran
Something Wild (1961)
as Mike
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967)
as George Clarence 'Bugs' Moran
Without Warning (1980)
as Dave
Hi-Riders (1978)
as Mike
The Anderson Tapes (1971)
as Police Captain 'Iron Balls' Delaney
The Food of the Gods (1976)
as Bensington
I Walk the Line (1970)
as Carl McCain
Brannigan (1975)
as Capt. Moretti
Desert Sands (1955)
as Capt. David Malcolm
Night Games (1974)
as Dutch Armbreck
Cry Panic (1974)
as Chuck Braswell
Jeopardy (1953)
as Lawson the Fugitive
The Devil's Eight (1969)
as Burl
Shadow in the Sky (1952)
as Burt
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller (2002)
as Lt. Driscoll (archive footage)
Ada (1961)
as Colonel Yancey
Big House, U.S.A (1955)
as Geraldo 'Jerry' Barker aka Iceman
Glory Alley (1952)
as Socks Barbarrosa
The Mind Snatchers (1972)
as The Major
Run of the Arrow (1957)
as Lieutenant Driscoll
Lost Flight (1970)
as Glenn Walkup
Gentle Giant (1967)
as Fog Hanson
Birds of Prey (1973)
as Jim McAndrew
Somebody Loves Me (1952)
as Benny Fields
The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown (1957)
as Mike Valla
The Dead Don't Die (1975)
as Lieutenant Reardon
Teresa (1951)
as Sgt. Dobbs
A Woman's Devotion (1956)
as Trevor Stevenson
Code Two (1953)
as Chuck O'Flair
The Girl on the Late, Late Show (1974)
as Inspector DeBiesse
Wall of Noise (1963)
as Matt Rubio
You'll Never See Me Again (1973)
as Will Alden
The Alpha Incident (1978)
as Charlie
The Reluctant Heroes (1971)
as Capt. Luke Danvers
Four Women in Black (1957)
as Carbine Webb
My Boys Are Good Boys (1978)
as Bert Morton
Angela – Love Comes Quietly (1973)
as Ben Hoeksema
Four in a Jeep (1951)
as Sergeant William Long
Johnny Firecloud (1975)
as Colby
A Holster Full Of Law (1961)
as Frank Clell