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