Highest rated as cast or director
Ralph Meeker's 5 titles from the 1950s have a median Balasaur Score of 79, led by Paths of Glory (88) and Kiss Me Deadly (80), against 63 for those from the 1970s.
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.
Acted in 86
2000s
- 2002
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
Lt. Driscoll (archive footage)
1980s
- 1980
1970s
- 1979
- 1978
The Alpha Incident
Charlie
- 1977
- 1976
- 1975
Barbary Coast
Big Lou Hobart · 1 episode
Johnny Firecloud
Colby
The Dead Don't Die
Lieutenant Reardon
- 1974
Run, Joe, Run
TV
The Girl on the Late, Late Show
Inspector DeBiesse
Night Games
Dutch Armbreck
- 1973
Faraday and Company
Ed Kelso · 1 episode
Angela – Love Comes Quietly
Ben Hoeksema
The Evil Touch
TV
You'll Never See Me Again
Will Alden
- 1972
The Mind Snatchers
The Major
- 1971
The Reluctant Heroes
Capt. Luke Danvers
Primus
TV
- 1970
Lost Flight
Glenn Walkup
1960s
- 1969
The Devil's Eight
Burl
- 1968
- 1967
Gentle Giant
Fog Hanson
Custer
TV
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
George Clarence 'Bugs' Moran
- 1966
- 1965
- 1963
Wall of Noise
Matt Rubio
- 1962
- 1961
A Holster Full Of Law
Frank Clell
Ada
Colonel Yancey
Tallahassee 7000
TV
- 1960
1950s
- 1958
- 1957
Run of the Arrow
Lieutenant Driscoll
The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown
Mike Valla
Four Women in Black
Carbine Webb
- 1956
A Woman's Devotion
Trevor Stevenson
- 1955
- 1954
- 1953
Code Two
Chuck O'Flair
- 1952
Somebody Loves Me
Benny Fields
Shadow in the Sky
Burt
Glory Alley
Socks Barbarrosa
- 1951
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Wally Walters · 1 episode
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Rich Adams, Barry Brannon · 1 episode
Teresa
Sgt. Dobbs
Four in a Jeep
Sergeant William Long
- 1950
Produced 1
Appearances1
1940s
- 1948
