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Ralph Meeker

{{short description|American actor}}

{{use mdy dates|date=October 2012}}

{{Infobox person

| image = Ralph Meeker 1953.png

| imagesize =

| caption = Meeker in a photo for the MGM film Code Two (1953)

| birth_name = Ralph Rathgeber

| birth_date = {{birth date|1920|11|21}}

| birth_place = Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1988|08|05|1920|11|21}}

| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

| resting_place =

| occupation = Actor

| spouse = {{Unbulleted list

| {{marriage|Salome Jens|1964|1966|end=div}}

| {{marriage|Millicent Meeker
||1988}}

}}

| yearsactive = 1945–1980

}}

Ralph Meeker (born Ralph Rathgeber; November 21, 1920 – August 5, 1988) was an American film, stage, and television actor. He first rose to prominence for his roles in the Broadway productions of Mister Roberts (1948–1951) and Picnic (1953),{{cite news |first=Mervyn |last=Rothstein |title=Ralph Meeker, 67, Star of 'Picnic' And Featured Actor in Films, Dies |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE5DE1331F935A3575BC0A96E948260 |work= The New York Times |date= August 6, 1988 |access-date= October 12, 2012 }} the former of which earned him a Theatre World Award for his performance. In film, Meeker is known for his portrayal of Mike Hammer in Robert Aldrich's 1955 Kiss Me Deadly and as condemned infantryman Cpl. Philippe Paris in Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory.

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.

Early life

Meeker was born Ralph Rathgeber in Minneapolis, Minnesota on November 21, 1920,{{Sfn|Monush|2003|p=493}} the son of Ralph and Magnhild Senovia Haavig Meeker Rathgeber. He spent his early life in Michigan and Chicago. Meeker attended the Leelanau School in Glen Arbor Township, Michigan, and later was made a member of its hall of fame. He graduated from Northwestern University in 1942, where he majored in music.

Meeker served in the United States Navy during World War II, but was discharged after a few months with a neck injury.{{cite web|last1=LoBianco|first1=Lorraine|title=Ralph Meeker Profile|url=http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/208871%7c0/Starring-Ralph-Meeker.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403042044/http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/208871%7c0/Starring-Ralph-Meeker.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 3, 2015|work=Turner Classic Movies|access-date=March 7, 2017}}

Career

=Stage work=

Meeker began his career on stage, appearing in minor roles in the Broadway production of Strange Fruit (1946) directed by José Ferrer, which ran for 60 performances.{{Citation needed |date=August 2024}}

He followed it with a minor part in Cyrano de Bergerac (1946), starring Ferrer and directed by Mel Ferrer which went for 163 performances.

Meeker then starred on Broadway in Mister Roberts (1948–1951), directed by Joshua Logan and produced by Leland Hayward. Theatre World said he was one of the 12 most promising actors from the 1947–48 season.{{cite news|title=MOST PROMISING PLAYERS: Theatre World Selects Twelve for the 1947–48 season|work=The New York Times|date=May 18, 1948|page=27}}{{Sfn|Monush|2003|p=493}}{{cite news|title=AT THE THEATRE|author=BROOKS ATKINSON|work=The New York Times|date=Feb 19, 1948|page=27}} He was understudy for Henry Fonda.{{Citation needed |date=August 2024}}

Meeker's big breakthrough came when he took over the role of Stanley Kowalski from Marlon Brando in the second year of the original Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by Elia Kazan. Logan and Hayward had Meeker under personal contract but agreed to release him from Mister Roberts. He started appearing in June 1949.{{cite news|title=CAROL STONE EYES LEAD IN A MUSICAL: Expected to Take Over Joan Roberts Role in 'Shoes' -Latter Leaves April 23|author=SAM ZOLOTOW|work=The New York Times|date=Apr 15, 1949|page=31}} He played the role until the Broadway run ended in December and then toured on the road with it.{{Citation needed |date=August 2024}}

=MGM Films=

Meeker made his film debut in the Swiss-made Four in a Jeep (1951), directed by Leopold Lindtberg. He played a starring role alongside Viveca Lindfors.{{cite journal|journal=Screen World|volume=3|year=1952|page=65|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ke4USFx2TWEC&q=ralph+meeker&pg=PA65|publisher=Biblo & Tannen|title=(United Artists) Four in a Jeep|isbn=9780819602589}}

Meeker was then signed to a term contract by MGM. which put him in Teresa (1951), directed by Fred Zinnemann. Meeker played a support role, a sergeant, and the film was very popular.{{cite book|last=Mannix |first=Eddie |title=The Eddie Mannix Ledger |publisher=Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study |location=Los Angeles }}

MGM then cast him in the leading role in Shadow in the Sky (1952), alongside Nancy Davis, later Nancy Reagan. The studio then tried him in Glory Alley (1952), billed above Leslie Caron and directed by Raoul Walsh. Both films flopped.

Paramount borrowed him to play Betty Hutton's leading man in Somebody Loves Me (1952), a musical. It was a minor hit.

Meeker's next two MGM films were very popular. He had a supporting role as a misfit ex-cavalryman in the classic Western The Naked Spur (1953) directed by Anthony Mann starring James Stewart. He was then in Jeopardy (1953), a well-received thriller with Barbara Stanwyck and Barry Sullivan. His final film for MGM was the crime movie Code Two (1953), which made a small loss.{{Sfn|Monush|2003|p=493}}{{cite news|title=Ralph Meeker to Clash With Stewart; Barbara Britton in 'Riding Kid'|author=Schallert, Edwin|work=Los Angeles Times|date=Mar 3, 1952|page=B9}}

Meeker also appeared on TV shows like The Revlon Mirror Theater and Lux Video Theatre.

=''Picnic''=

File:Ralph Meeker in Picnic 1955.png, 1954]]

In 1954, Meeker was cast in a Broadway production of William Inge's Picnic, directed by Logan and also starring Paul Newman and Janice Rule. The play was a critical and commercial success, running for 477 performances.{{cite magazine|magazine=Life|title='Picnic' tells conquest of Kansas Casanova|page=136|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F0IEAAAAMBAJ&q=ralph+meeker+picnic&pg=PA136|date=March 16, 1953}} Meeker was awarded the New York Critic's Circle Award in 1954.{{Citation needed |date=July 2022}}

Picnic became a classic film in 1955, with William Holden and Kim Novak starring in the roles originated by Meeker and Janice Rule. According to Turner Classic Movies, Meeker turned down the lead role because he did not wish to sign a long-term contract with the production company, and he never was offered a role of similar stature again.

Meeker returned to films playing a cold-blooded convict in Big House, U.S.A. (1955).

=''Kiss Me Deadly''=

In perhaps his most-remembered role, Meeker starred as private detective Mike Hammer in the 1955 Robert Aldrich film of Mickey Spillane's Kiss Me Deadly. Many years later, this film acquired cult status and was seen as an influence on French New Wave directors such as Jean-Luc Godard.{{Sfn|Hoberman|2007|p=155}}

He then played a member of the French Foreign Legion in Desert Sands (1955). He was discussed to star in a Spillane sequel My Gun Is Quick.{{Cite news|title=Hammer Role to Haunt Meeker, O'Connor Plans Independent Film Abroad|author=Schallert, Edwin|date=Apr 17, 1956|work=Los Angeles Times|page=B6}}

On television, Meeker starred in the 1955 premiere episode, "Revenge", of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, along with Vera Miles. (He later appeared in three other Alfred Hitchcock segments.) He also guest-starred on shows like Studio One in Hollywood, Star Stage, The Alcoa Hour, Goodyear Playhouse, Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre, Studio 57, Zane Grey Theater, Playhouse 90, and The 20th Century Fox Hour.

In 1957, he portrayed an ex-convict who kidnaps and then falls for Jane Russell in the romantic comedy The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown,{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F06E2DB1E30E23BBC4950DFB667838C649EDE|work=The New York Times|title='The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown' on View|date=October 31, 1957|access-date=December 26, 2016}} which failed at the box office.{{Citation needed |date=July 2022}}

More popular was the Sam Fuller Western Run of the Arrow (1957), with Meeker in a supporting role.{{Citation needed |date=July 2022}}

He produced the film Kindergarten in Germany.{{cite news|title=Ralph Meeker to Make Movie|date=Sep 1, 1957|work=Los Angeles Times|page=D3}}

=''Paths of Glory''=

That same year, he appeared in Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory, playing a soldier, Corporal Paris, accused of cowardice during battle in World War I.

Meeker returned to Broadway in 1958 to appear in Cloud 7 but it only ran 11 performances.

He continued to work heavily in TV on such shows as Climax!, Wagon Train, Kraft Theatre, Pursuit, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Schlitz Playhouse, The Loretta Young Show and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Meeker was cast with Dorothy Provine in the 1959 episode "Blood Money" of the Western series The Texan, starring Rory Calhoun.{{Citation needed |date=May 2021}} He had the title role in the TV movie Dillinger (1960).Meeker to Be Dillinger in New Thriller Series by Bob Salmaggi. The Washington Post and Times-Herald 25 July 1959: D8.

=''Not for Hire''=

From 1959 to 1960, Meeker had the leading role as Army Sergeant Steve Dekker in the 39-episode television series Not for Hire.{{cite news|title=Not for Hire Packs Powerful Wallop and Scorns Taboos: Not for Hire Packs Hard Wallop and Scorns Taboos Page, Don|work=Los Angeles Times|date=Jan 10, 1960|page=G2}}

For Disney TV, he did Texas John Slaughter: Frank Clell's in Town (1961) with Tom Tryon. He also was seen in Tallahassee 7000.

In 1961, he starred in the political story Ada with Dean Martin, and in Jack Garfein's experimental drama Something Wild, in which he portrayed a mechanic who saves a young woman (Carroll Baker) from committing suicide, but then holds her captive in his apartment.{{Sfn|Maltin|1994|p=1288}}

Meeker went back to Broadway to replace Eli Wallach in the production of Rhinoceros starring Zero Mostel. He was then in Something About a Soldier (1962) with Sal Mineo directed by Dore Schary; it ran 12 performances.{{cite news|title=TWO STARS ADDED TO MILITARY PLAY|author=SAM ZOLOTOW|work=The New York Times|date=Oct 30, 1961|page=36}}

In 1962, Meeker portrayed Jack Slade in the episode "The Crooked Angel" of the drama series Going My Way, starring Gene Kelly as a Catholic priest in New York City and loosely based on 1944 film of the same name. He was also cast in 1962 as Barney Swanton in the episode "Walk Like a King" of the Western series Empire, starring Richard Egan. He was also in episodes of The United States Steel Hour, and Route 66.{{cite news|title=OBITUARIES Played Tough Guys and Villains Ralph Meeker; Stage, Screen, TV Actor|work=Los Angeles Times|date=Aug 6, 1988|page=28}}

In 1963, he appeared as Murray Knopf in "The Bull Roarer" on Breaking Point, starring Paul Richards and Eduard Franz.

During the Cold War, he appeared in a 1963 U.S. Department of Defense informational film Town of the Times, which encouraged the construction of public fallout shelters.{{cite web|url=http://conelrad.com/cdfilm_more.php?id=199_0_3_0_M|title=Town of the Times}} He was in the feature film Wall of Noise (1963) at Warners.

Meeker guest-starred as Frank Marin in the 1964 episode "Swing for the Moon" of Channing, co-starring Jason Evers and Henry Jones. He was also in The Outer Limits, The Defenders, Suspense, The Doctors and the Nurses, and Kraft Suspense Theatre.

=Repertory on Broadway=

He returned to Broadway in 1964 for After the Fall by Arthur Miller, directed by Kazan and starring Jason Robards Jr. and Barbara Loden. It ran for 208 performances. The play was done in repertory with But For Whom Charlie, also directed by Kazan with Meeker (and Faye Dunaway), but it was not as successful.{{Citation needed |date=August 2024}}

In 1965 Meeker was in Mrs. Dally Had a Lover on Broadway, which ran 53 performances.{{cite news|title=SEASON'S OPENER A FAMILY AFFAIR: The Gabels Will Bring 'Mrs. Dally' to Stage Sept. 22|author=Sam Zolotow|work=The New York Times|date=Aug 23, 1965|page=21}} He guest-starred on The Long, Hot Summer, Seaway, The Green Hornet, and Tarzan.

Meeker later appeared in the 1967 crime drama The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, in which he played gangster George "Bugs" Moran.

Meeker was also in the 1967 war film The Dirty Dozen as Captain Stuart Kinder, a military psychologist who attempts to analyze the men. Meeker portrayed police officers in The Detective (1969) with Frank Sinatra and The Anderson Tapes (1970) with Sean Connery.

Meeker also starred in Gentle Giant (1967), A Punt, a Pass, and a Prayer (1968), and The Devil's 8 (1968) and guest starred on Dundee and the Culhane, The High Chaparral, and The Name of the Game.

=1970s=

Meeker worked steadily through the 1970s. He was in the TV film Lost Flight (1970), the feature I Walk the Line (1970), and episodes of The Virginian and The F.B.I., as well as the TV movie The Reluctant Heroes of Hill 656 (1971).{{cite news|title=TV's 'Lost Flight' Stars Ralph Meeker|date=Nov 14, 1968|work=Los Angeles Times|page=h26}}

In 1971, he appeared on television as Kermit Teller in the episode "Glory Rider" of the Western Custer, with Wayne Maunder in the title role.

That year, he was a replacement cast member in a stage production of The House of Blue Leaves.

Meeker was in episodes of Primus, Room 222, Faraday & Company, Ironside, Toma, The Evil Touch, Police Surgeon, Cannon, The Rookies, Movin' On, Barbary Coast, Police Story, Run, Joe, Run, Harry O, Police Woman, The Eddie Capra Mysteries, and CHiPs.

In 1971, Meeker played FBI agent Bernie Jenks in the TV movie The Night Stalker. He was in TV movies The Mind Snatchers (1972), Birds of Prey (1973), You'll Never See Me Again (1973), Cry Panic (1974), Night Games (1974), The Girl on the Late, Late Show (1974), and The Dead Don't Die (1975).

He made Love Comes Quietly (1973) in Holland and worked in the John Wayne film Brannigan (1974). He was second-billed in Johnny Firecloud (1975) and had a part in The Food of the Gods (1976).

He was also in Hi-Riders (1978) and starred in The Alpha Incident (1978).

=Final years=

Meeker was an executive producer on My Boys Are Good Boys (1978), which he also appeared in. He had a role in Winter Kills (1979).{{cite news|title=Actor Ralph Meeker, 67|work=Newsday|date=Aug 6, 1988|page=17}}

Meeker's final screen role was in the independent science-fiction-horror film Without Warning (1980), about an alien landing.{{Sfn|Muir|2012|p=142}} The film received negative reviews from critics, with Tom Buckley of The New York Times calling the film "illogical and predictable."{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F0CEFD81238F935A1575AC0A966948260|work=The New York Times|date=September 26, 1980|access-date=February 22, 2017|first=Tom|last=Buckley|title=Movie Review -- 'WITHOUT WARNING'}}

Personal life

Meeker married actress Salome Jens on July 20, 1964, and they were divorced in 1966.{{cite web |title=Ralph Meeker |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/129167%7C127121/Ralph-Meeker#overview |website=Turner Classic Movies |access-date=August 26, 2024 }} He also married Millicent Meeker.

Death

In 1980, he suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from acting. His health steadily declined, punctuated by several more strokes. He spent the last year of his life in the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Los Angeles, and died there, age 67, of a heart attack.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-06-mn-6806-story.html|work=The Los Angeles Times|title=OBITUARIES : Played Tough Guys and Villains : Ralph Meeker; Stage, Screen, TV Actor|first=Burt A.|last=Folkart|date=August 6, 1988|access-date=February 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227103718/http://articles.latimes.com/1988-08-06/news/mn-6806_1_ralph-meeker|archive-date=February 27, 2015|url-status=live}}

Filmography

=Film=

class="wikitable sortable"
Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

1951

| Die Vier im Jeep

| Sergeant William Long

|

1951

| Teresa

| Sergeant Dobbs

|

1952

| Shadow in the Sky

| Burt

|

1952

| Glory Alley

| Socks Barbarrosa

|

1953

| Somebody Loves Me

| Ben 'Benny' Fields

|

1953

| {{sortname|The|Naked Spur|The Naked Spur}}

| Roy Anderson

|

1953

| Jeopardy

| Lawson

|

1953

| Code Two

| Chuck O'Flair

|

1955

| Big House, U.S.A.

| Jerry Barker

|

1955

| Kiss Me Deadly

| Mike Hammer

|

1955

| Desert Sands

| Captain David Malcolm

|

1956

| A Woman's Devotion

| Trevor Stevenson

|

1957

| The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown

| Mike Vala

|

1957

| Run of the Arrow

| Lieutenant Driscoll

|

1957

| Paths of Glory

| Corporal Philippe Paris

|

1960

| Dillinger

| John Dillinger

| television film

1961

| Ada

| Colonel Yancey

|

1961

| Something Wild

| Mike

|

1963

| Wall of Noise

| Matt Rubio

|

1967

| The Dirty Dozen

| Captain Stuart Kinder

|

1967

| {{sortname|The|St. Valentine's Day Massacre|The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (film)}}

| George Clarence 'Bugs' Moran

|

1967

| Gentle Giant

| Fog Hanson

|

1968

| {{sortname|The|Detective|The Detective (1968 film)}}

| Curran

|

1968

| A Punt, a Pass, and a Prayer

| Wally Walters

| television film

1969

| The Devil's 8

| Burl

|

1969

| Lost Flight

| Glenn Walkup

| TV movie

1970

| I Walk the Line

| Carl McCain

|

1971

| {{sortname|The|Anderson Tapes}}

| 'Iron Balls' Delaney

|

1971

| The Reluctant Heroes

| Captain Luke Danvers

| TV movie

1972

| The Night Stalker

| Bernie Jenks

| TV movie

1972

| The Happiness Cage

| The Major

| also known as The Mind Snatchers and The Demon

1973

| Birds of Prey

| Jim McAndrew

| TV movie

1973

| You'll Never See Me Again

| Will Alden

| TV movie

1973

| Love Comes Quietly

| Ben Hoeksema

|

1974

| Cry Panic

| Chuck Brunswell

| TV movie

1974

| Night Games

| Dutch Armbreck

| TV movie

1974

| The Girl on the Late, Late Show

| Inspector DeBiesse

| TV movie

1975

| The Dead Don't Die

| Police Lieutenant Reardon

| TV movie

1975

| Brannigan

| Captain Moretti

|

1975

| Johnny Firecloud

| Colby

|

1976

| The Food of the Gods

| Bensington

|

1978

| Hi-Riders

| Mike

|

1978

| {{sortname|The|Alpha Incident}}

| Charlie

|

1978

| My Boys Are Good Boys

| Bert Morton

|

1979

| Winter Kills

| Gameboy Baker

|

1980

| Without Warning

| Dave

|

=Television=

class="wikitable sortable"
Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

1952–1956Goodyear Television Playhouse{{N/A}}2 episodes
1952–1956Lux Video TheatreMike / Nicky Hanks2 episodes
1953The Revlon Mirror Theater{{N/A}}2 episodes
1953The Alcoa HourBilly Hepburn1 episode
1955–1956Studio One in HollywoodMr. Sheridan / Steve2 episodes
1955Alfred Hitchcock PresentsCarl SpannSeason 1 Episode 1: "Revenge"
1956Star Stage{{N/A}}1 episode
1956Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside TheatreJoe Novak1 episode
1956Studio 57Ranson1 episode
1957Alfred Hitchcock PresentsCarl BordenSeason 2 Episode 20: "Malice Domestic"
1957Zane Grey TheaterSteve Elkins1 episode
1957Playhouse 90Carbine Webb1 episode
1957The 20th Century Fox HourCommander John Lawrence1 episode
1957–1958Climax!'Griff' Griffith / Alex Hill2 episodes
1958Pursuit{{N/A}}1 episode
1958Wagon TrainHorse1 episode
1958–59Schlitz Playhouse of StarsBarry Brannon / Rich Adams2 episodes
1958–1961The Loretta Young ShowVarious4 episodes
1959Alfred Hitchcock PresentsMel ReevesSeason 4 Episode 17: "Total Loss"
1959Alfred Hitchcock PresentsJohn ForbesSeason 4 Episode 23: "I'll Take Care of You"
1959Wanted: Dead or AliveMartin Ash1 episode
1959The TexasSam Kerrigan1 episode
1959–1960Not for HireSergeant Steve Dekker39 episodes
1961Walt Disney's Wonderful World of ColorFranc Clell1 episode
1961Tallahassee 7000Harry Griffold1 episode
1962Going My WayJack Slade1 episode
1962EmpireBarney Swanton1 episode
1962–1963The United States Steel HourCharlie Williams2 episodes
1962–1963Route 66Parker Smith / Willard McIntyre2 episodes
1963Breaking PointMurray Knopf1 episode
1963The Outer LimitsJohn Dexter1 episode
1964The DefendersFloyd Cooper1 episode
1964ChanningFrank Martin1 episode
1964The Doctors and the NursesSheffer1 episode
1964Suspense{{N/A}}1 episode
1964Kraft Suspense TheatreHarly Clay1 episode
1966The Long, Hot SummerJess Corbett1 episode
1966SeawayRoy Burke1 episode
1966–1971The F.B.I.Graham Newcomb / Scott Martin / King Hogan3 episodes
1967The Green HornetEarl Evans1 episode
1967TarzanKarnak1 episode
1967CusterKermit Teller1 episode
1967Dundee and the CulhaneMaximus Tobin1 episode
1967The High ChaparralTracy Conlin1 episode
1968The Name of the GameSenator Goddard1 episode
1968–1974IronsideWescott / Ex-Detective2 episodes
1970The VirginianAugust Gruber1 episode
1972–1974Police SurgeonJames Blinn2 episodes
1973–1975Police StoryAlfred Attles / Sergeant Emit Howard / Chief Harry Stahlgaher3 episodes
1974Room 222Mr. Jones1 episode
1974Faraday & CompanyEd Kelso1 episode
1974TomaFrank Beecher1 episode
1974The Evil TouchFrank Drake2 episodes
1975CannonPhil Dexter1 episode
1975The RookiesOfficer Menteer1 episode
1975Movin' OnDave Bennet1 episode
1975Barbary CoastBig Lou Hobart1 episode
1975Run, Joe, RunGant1 episode
1975Harry OSergeant Frank Brannen1 episode
1977Police WomanBellwood1 episode
1979CHiPsJerry Borgman1 episode

Stage credits

class="wikitable sortable"
Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

1945–46Strange FruitChuck{{cite web|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/ralph-meeker-52675|work=The Internet Broadway Database|title=Ralph Meeker Credits|access-date=March 8, 2017}}
1946–47Cyrano de BergeracLackey
1947–49A Streetcar Named DesireStanley Kowalski
1948–1951Mister RobertsMannionTheatre World Award{{Sfn|Monush|2003|p=493}}
1953–54PicnicHal Carter
1958Cloud 7Newton Reece
1961RhinocerosBerrenger
1962Something About a SoldierToat
1964But for Whom CharlieCharles Taney
1964–65After the FallMickey
1965Mrs. Dally Had a LoverSam

References

{{reflist|2}}

Works cited

  • {{cite book | editor = Lim, Dennis | author-link = J. Hoberman | first = J. | last = Hoberman | chapter = Review of Kiss Me Deadly | title = The Village Voice Film Guide – 50 Years of Movies from Classics to Cult Hits | location = New York City | publisher = John Wiley & Sons | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-0-471-78781-5 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/villagevoicefilm00vill }}
  • {{cite book|first=Leonard|last=Maltin|year=1994|title=Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide: 1990 Edition|publisher=Plume|isbn=978-0-452-26316-1}}
  • {{cite book|title=Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era, 1940–1959|first=Michael F.|last=Keaney|publisher=McFarland|year=2010| isbn=978-0-786-46366-4}}
  • {{cite book|first=Barry|last=Monush|title=Screen World Presents the Encyclopedia of Hollywood Film Actors: From the Silent Era to 1965 |year=2003|volume=1|publisher=Applause|isbn= 978-1-557-83551-2}}
  • {{cite book|first=Kenneth|last=Muir|year=2012|title=Horror Films of the 1980s|volume=1|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-786-47298-7}}

External links

{{Sister project links|d=Q1370520|b=no|wikt=no|s=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|species=no|n=no|q=no}}

  • {{AFI person | 127121-Ralph-Meeker }}
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20160614014238/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f6c62a5 Ralph Meeker] at the British Film Institute{{better source needed|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. | date=October 2023}} at the British Film Institute
  • {{Find a Grave|7480}}
  • {{IBDB name}}
  • {{IMDb name|0576127}}
  • {{IOBDB name|37654}}
  • {{TCMDb name}}
  • [http://collections.oscars.org/link/papers/88 Ralph Meeker papers], donated by Meeker in 1983 to the Margaret Herrick Library
  • [https://archive.org/details/TownOfTheTimes Town of the Times], 1963 United States Department of Defense informational film at Internet Archive starring Ralph Meeker

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meeker, Ralph}}

Category:1920 births

Category:1988 deaths

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:Male actors from Los Angeles

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male stage actors

Category:American male television actors

Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II

Category:Film producers from California

Category:Male actors from Minneapolis

Category:Military personnel from Minneapolis

Category:Northwestern University alumni

Category:20th-century American businesspeople

Category:Film producers from New York (state)

Category:Film producers from Minnesota

Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players