Ralph Meeker
Known For
Acting
Born
1920-11-21 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Died
1988-08-05
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.
Most Known For
Ironside
Studio One
as Steve Windom
Studio One
as Larry Sheridan
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
as Steve Elkins
Police Woman
Climax!
as Alex Hill
Climax!
as 'Griff' Griffith
The Outer Limits
as John Dexter
Cannon
Route 66
The F.B.I.
as King Hogan
The F.B.I.
as Scott Martin
The F.B.I.
as Graham Newcomb
The Defenders
as Floyd Cooper
Wanted: Dead or Alive
as Martin Ash
The Rookies
The Texan
The Name of the Game
as Senator Goddard
The Ed Sullivan Show
as Self
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as Carl Spann