Ralph Meeker
Acting
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.
Los Angeles Plays Itself
Mike Hammer in Kiss Me Deadly (archive footage)
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
Lt. Driscoll (archive footage)
Without Warning
Dave
Winter Kills
Gameboy Baker
The Alpha Incident
Charlie
Hi-Riders
Mike
My Boys Are Good Boys
Bert Morton
The Food of the Gods
Bensington
Johnny Firecloud
Colby
Brannigan
Capt. Moretti
The Dead Don't Die
Lieutenant Reardon
The Girl on the Late, Late Show
Inspector DeBiesse
Night Games
Dutch Armbreck
Cry Panic
Chuck Braswell
Angela - Love Comes Quietly
Ben Hoeksema
You'll Never See Me Again
Will Alden
Birds of Prey
Jim McAndrew
The Mind Snatchers
The Major
The Night Stalker
Bernie Jenks
The Reluctant Heroes
Capt. Luke Danvers
The Anderson Tapes
Police Captain 'Iron Balls' Delaney
I Walk the Line
Carl McCain
Lost Flight
Glenn Walkup
The Devil's Eight
Burl
The Detective
Curran
Gentle Giant
Fog Hanson
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
George Clarence 'Bugs' Moran
The Dirty Dozen
Captain Stuart Kinder
Wall of Noise
Matt Rubio
Something Wild
Mike
A Holster Full Of Law
Frank Clell
Ada
Colonel Yancey
Paths of Glory
Cpl. Philippe Paris
Run of the Arrow
Lieutenant Driscoll
The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown
Mike Valla
Four Women in Black
Carbine Webb
A Woman's Devotion
Trevor Stevenson
Desert Sands
Capt. David Malcolm
Kiss Me Deadly
Mike Hammer
Big House, U.S.A
Geraldo 'Jerry' Barker aka Iceman
Code Two
Chuck O'Flair
Jeopardy
Lawson the Fugitive
The Naked Spur
Roy Anderson
Somebody Loves Me
Benny Fields
Shadow in the Sky
Burt
Glory Alley
Socks Barbarrosa
Teresa
Sgt. Dobbs
Four in a Jeep
Sergeant William Long