Ralph Meeker
Born November 21, 1920 (Age: 105)
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Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
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.
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.
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Filmography
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
2002
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as Lt. Driscoll (archive footage)
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Age: 81
Without Warning
1980
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as Dave
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Age: 59
The Alpha Incident
1978
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as Charlie
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Age: 57
Hi-Riders
1978
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as Mike
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Age: 57
My Boys Are Good Boys
1978
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as Bert Morton
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Age: 57
The Girl on the Late, Late Show
1974
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as Inspector DeBiesse
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Age: 53
Night Games
1974
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as Dutch Armbreck
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Age: 53
Cry Panic
1974
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as Chuck Braswell
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Age: 53
Angela - Love Comes Quietly
1973
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as Ben Hoeksema
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Age: 52
You'll Never See Me Again
1973
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as Will Alden
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Age: 52
Birds of Prey
1973
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as Jim McAndrew
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Age: 52
The Mind Snatchers
1972
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as The Major
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Age: 51
The Anderson Tapes
1971
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as Police Captain 'Iron Balls' Delaney
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Age: 50
The Devil's Eight
1969
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as Burl
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Age: 48
The Detective
1968
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as Curran
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Age: 47
Wall of Noise
1963
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as Matt Rubio
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Age: 42
Something Wild
1961
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as Mike
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Age: 41
A Holster Full Of Law
1961
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as Frank Clell
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Age: 40
Ada
1961
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as Colonel Yancey
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Age: 40
A Woman's Devotion
1956
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as Trevor Stevenson
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Age: 35
Desert Sands
1955
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as Capt. David Malcolm
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Age: 34
Kiss Me Deadly
1955
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as Mike Hammer
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Age: 34
Big House, U.S.A
1955
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as Geraldo 'Jerry' Barker aka Iceman
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Age: 34
Code Two
1953
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as Chuck O'Flair
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Age: 32
Jeopardy
1953
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as Lawson the Fugitive
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Age: 32
The Naked Spur
1953
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as Roy Anderson
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Age: 32