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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
November 21, 1920
Died
August 5, 1988
Place of Birth
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Also Known As
- Ralph Rathgeber
Ralph Meeker
1.7 Popularity
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.
Known For
7.6
Mike Hammer in Kiss Me Deadly (archive footage)
Los Angeles Plays Itself
2004
5.8
Lt. Driscoll (archive footage)
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
2002
5.3
Dave
Without Warning
1980
5.8
Gameboy Baker
Winter Kills
1979
5.0
Kaz
1978
5.0
The Eddie Capra Mysteries
1978
3.6
Charlie
The Alpha Incident
1978
5.1
Mike
Hi-Riders
1978
7.2
Bert Morton
My Boys Are Good Boys
1978
6.8
CHiPs
1977
Credits
Los Angeles Plays Itself
as Mike Hammer in Kiss Me Deadly (archive footage)
2004
7.6
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
as Lt. Driscoll (archive footage)
2002
5.8
Without Warning
as Dave
1980
5.3
Winter Kills
as Gameboy Baker
1979
5.8
Kaz
1978
5.0
The Eddie Capra Mysteries
1978
5.0
The Alpha Incident
as Charlie
1978
3.6
Hi-Riders
as Mike
1978
5.1
My Boys Are Good Boys
as Bert Morton
1978
7.2
CHiPs
1977
6.8
The Food of the Gods
as Bensington
1976
4.9
Barbary Coast
as Big Lou Hobart
1975
7.5
Johnny Firecloud
as Colby
1975
4.8
Brannigan
as Capt. Moretti
1975
6.0
The Dead Don't Die
as Lieutenant Reardon
1975
5.9
Police Woman
1974
6.2
Harry O
1974
4.6
Run, Joe, Run
1974
6.3
The Girl on the Late, Late Show
as Inspector DeBiesse
1974
5.2
Night Games
as Dutch Armbreck
1974
6.0
Cry Panic
as Chuck Braswell
1974
6.8
Angela - Love Comes Quietly
as Ben Hoeksema
1973
4.7
The Evil Touch
1973
5.5
Toma
1973
7.8
Police Story
1973
6.9
You'll Never See Me Again
as Will Alden
1973
7.0
Birds of Prey
as Jim McAndrew
1973
5.5
The Rookies
1972
6.8
The Mind Snatchers
as The Major
1972
5.9
The Night Stalker
as Bernie Jenks
1972
6.9
The Reluctant Heroes
as Capt. Luke Danvers
1971
0.0
Primus
1971
5.0
Cannon
1971
6.6
The Anderson Tapes
as Police Captain 'Iron Balls' Delaney
1971
6.1
I Walk the Line
as Carl McCain
1970
5.7
Lost Flight
as Glenn Walkup
1970
3.7
Room 222
1969
6.0
The Devil's Eight
as Burl
1969
5.1
The Name of the Game
as Senator Goddard
1968
6.8
The Detective
as Curran
1968
5.9
Gentle Giant
as Fog Hanson
1967
10.0
The High Chaparral
as Tracy Conlin
1967
6.6
Custer
1967
6.0
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
as George Clarence 'Bugs' Moran
1967
6.3
The Dirty Dozen
as Captain Stuart Kinder
1967
7.6
Ironside
1967
6.8
The Green Hornet
as Earl Evans
1966
7.2
Tarzan
1966
6.7
The F.B.I.
as King Hogan
1965
5.4
The F.B.I.
as Scott Martin
1965
5.4
The F.B.I.
as Graham Newcomb
1965
5.4
Kraft Suspense Theatre
as Harly Clay
1963
5.3
The Outer Limits
as John Dexter
1963
7.8
Wall of Noise
as Matt Rubio
1963
3.1
Going My Way
1962
5.7
Something Wild
as Mike
1961
6.2
A Holster Full Of Law
as Frank Clell
1961
0.0
The Defenders
as Floyd Cooper
1961
5.9
Ada
as Colonel Yancey
1961
6.4
Tallahassee 7000
1961
0.0
Route 66
1960
6.3
🎬
Not for Hire
1959
0.0
The Texan
1958
5.5
Wanted: Dead or Alive
as Martin Ash
1958
6.8
Paths of Glory
as Cpl. Philippe Paris
1957
8.3
Run of the Arrow
as Lieutenant Driscoll
1957
6.0
The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown
as Mike Valla
1957
6.0
Four Women in Black
as Carbine Webb
1957
0.0
A Woman's Devotion
as Trevor Stevenson
1956
4.2
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
as Steve Elkins
1956
6.0
Desert Sands
as Capt. David Malcolm
1955
4.2
The 20th Century Fox Hour
1955
5.4
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as Carl Spann
1955
7.8
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as Carl Borden
1955
7.8
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as Mel Reeves
1955
7.8
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
as John Forbes
1955
7.8
Kiss Me Deadly
as Mike Hammer
1955
7.2
Big House, U.S.A
as Geraldo 'Jerry' Barker aka Iceman
1955
6.6
Climax!
as Alex Hill
1954
3.3
Climax!
as 'Griff' Griffith
1954
3.3
Letter to Loretta
as Joe Martin
1953
6.5
Letter to Loretta
as Ed James
1953
6.5
Letter to Loretta
as Pilot Duke Cavanaugh
1953
6.5
Letter to Loretta
as Willis Cooper
1953
6.5
Code Two
as Chuck O'Flair
1953
6.2
Jeopardy
as Lawson the Fugitive
1953
6.6
The Naked Spur
as Roy Anderson
1953
6.9
Somebody Loves Me
as Benny Fields
1952
8.5
Shadow in the Sky
as Burt
1952
6.6
Glory Alley
as Socks Barbarrosa
1952
5.5
Hallmark Hall of Fame
as Wally Walters
1951
8.6
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
as Rich Adams
1951
7.2
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
as Barry Brannon
1951
7.2
Teresa
as Sgt. Dobbs
1951
5.8
Four in a Jeep
as Sergeant William Long
1951
5.4
🎬
Lux Video Theatre
as Nicky Hanks
1950
6.3
🎬
Lux Video Theatre
as Mike
1950
6.3
Studio One
as Steve Windom
1948
5.0
Studio One
as Larry Sheridan
1948
5.0
The Ed Sullivan Show
as Self
1948
6.8