Ralph Meeker
Actor
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.
Filmography
The Dirty Dozen
as Captain Stuart Kinder 1967
Kiss Me Deadly
as Mike Hammer 1955
The Naked Spur
as Roy Anderson 1953
The Anderson Tapes
as Police Captain 'Iron Balls' Delaney 1971
Without Warning
as Dave 1980
The Night Stalker
as Bernie Jenks 1972
The Food of the Gods
as Bensington 1976
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
as George Clarence 'Bugs' Moran 1967
Brannigan
as Capt. Moretti 1975
The Detective
as Curran 1968
Los Angeles Plays Itself
as Mike Hammer in Kiss Me Deadly (archive footage) 2004
Winter Kills
as Gameboy Baker 1979
Run of the Arrow
as Lieutenant Driscoll 1957
I Walk the Line
as Carl McCain 1970
Jeopardy
as Lawson the Fugitive 1953
Something Wild
as Mike 1961