Ralph Meeker
(1920 - 1988)He always played a tough guy, a troublemaker or a rebel of some type. He was tall, stockily built with a squarish face, squinty eyes and a serious demeanor. He was born Ralph Rathgeber on November 21, 1920 in Minneapolis, Minnesota and as a child was taken by his parents to Chicago where he grew up. He attended Northwestern University where he majored in music but became very attached to acting while performing in school productions. The Dean of Northwestern University tried to dissuade him from a theatrical career citing many previous student's failures. He made his way to Broadway in the 1940s and became quite successful on stage proving the Dean wrong. He was Henry Fonda's understudy for "Mister Roberts" and replaced Brando in "A Streetcar Named Desire." He made his film debut in "Teresa" (1951) as Dobbs. His other films included: "Shadow in the Sky" (1951) as Burt; "Somebody Loves Me" (1952) as Benny Fields; "Jeopardy" (1953) as the Fugitive; "The Naked Spur" (1953) as Roy Anderson; "Desert Sands" (1955) as Capt. David Malcolm; "Big House, U.S.A." (1955) as Jerry Barker; "Kiss Me Deadly" (1955) as Mike Hammer; Kubrick's "Paths of Glory" (1957) as Corporal Paris, one of his greatest roles; "Something Wild" (1961) as Mike; "Ada" (1961) as Col. Yancey; "The Dirty Dozen" (1967) as Capt. Stuart Kinder; "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre" (1967) as Bugs Moran; "The Detective" (1968) as Curran; "I Walk the Line" (1970) as Carl Cain; "The Anderson Tapes" (1971) as Capt. Delaney; "Brannigan" (1975) with John Wayne, as Capt. Moretti; "Food of the Gods" (1976) as Jack Bensington; "Winter Kills" (1979) as Gameboy Baker and "Without Warning" (1980) as Dave, his final film. On TV he was a regular on the series: "Not For Hire" (1959) as U.S. Army Sgt. Steve Dekker and Disney's "Texas John Slaughter" (1958). He married actress Salome Jens in 1964 and they were divorced in 1966. He wed his second wife soon after and they were married until his death. He also appeared in made for TV movies including: "Lost Flight" (1969); "The Reluctant Heroes" (1971); "Birds of Prey" (1973) and "You'll Never See Me Again" (1973). He guested on such TV series as: "The Alcoa Hour"; "Alfred Hitchcock Presents"; "Wagon Train"; "Wanted: Dead or Alive"; "Empire"; "The F.B.I."; "The Virginian"; "The High Chapparal" and "Cannon." He died of a heart attack on August 5, 1988 in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 67.
From Great Character Actors, Page 6.
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