Ralph Meeker

Known for ActingBorn 1920-11-21Died 1988-08-05Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

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.Read more

Movies & web series

Somebody Loves Me

Hallmark Hall of Fame

Gentle Giant

Tallahassee 7000

Barbary Coast

Paths of Glory

The Reluctant Heroes

A Holster Full Of Law

My Boys Are Good Boys

The Outer Limits

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

The Dirty Dozen

The Green Hornet

Kaz

Kiss Me Deadly

You'll Never See Me Again

Police Story

Faraday and Company

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

Shadow in the Sky

The Name of the Game

Cry Panic

CHiPs

The Night Stalker

Wanted: Dead or Alive

The Rookies

The Naked Spur

Toma

Ironside

Tarzan

Run, Joe, Run

The High Chaparral

Cannon

The Ed Sullivan Show

Route 66

The Eddie Capra Mysteries

Night Games

Jeopardy

Lux Video Theatre

Police Woman

Ada

Big House, U.S.A

Kraft Suspense Theatre

Going My Way

Letter to Loretta

Custer

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre

The Defenders