Ralph Meeker

Acting

Ralph Meeker

Born — Died

1920-11-21 — 1988-08-05

Place of birth

Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

88 titles

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 (19…

Known for

Ironside poster
6.8

When an assassin's bullet confines him to a wheelchair for life ending his career as Chief of Detectives, Robert T. Ironside becomes a consultant to the police department. Detective Sergeant Ed Brown and policewoman Eve Whitfield join with him to crack varied and fascinating cases. Ex-con Mark Sanger is employed by the chief as home help but eventually becomes a fully fledged member of the team also. Officer Whitfield leaves after 4 years service, and is replaced by Officer Fran Belding.

Ironside

1967

The F.B.I. poster
5.6

The F.B.I. is an American television series that was broadcast on ABC from 1965 to 1974. It was sponsored by the Ford Motor Company, and the characters almost always drove Ford vehicles in the series. Alcoa was co-sponsor of Season One only.

The F.B.I.

1965

Studio One poster
5.4

An American radio–television anthology series, created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher Markle, who came to CBS from the CBC. Studio One, presented by Westinghouse, was one of the first of the anthology TV programs. The episodes were often abridged remakes of movies from years gone by and many future well-known television and movie actors appeared in the productions.

Studio One

1948

Climax! poster
3.8

Climax! is an American anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa. It was one of the few CBS programs of that era to be broadcast in color. Many of the episodes were performed and broadcast live.

Climax!

1954

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre poster
6.2

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, sometimes simply called Zane Grey Theatre, is an American Western anthology series which ran on CBS from 1956 to 1961.

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre

1956

Police Woman poster
6.4

Sergeant “Pepper"” Anderson, an undercover cop for the Criminal Conspiracy Unit of the Los Angeles Police Department, poses undercover from mob girl to prostitute.

Police Woman

1974

Film credits

1970s · 20 titles

The Anderson Tapes poster
6.1

Thief Duke Anderson—just released from ten years in jail—takes up with his old girlfriend in her posh apartment block, and makes plans to rob the entire building. What he doesn't know is that his every move is being recorded on audio and video, although he is not the subject of any surveillance.

The Anderson Tapes

1971

The Night Stalker poster
6.9

Wisecracking reporter Carl Kolchak investigates a string of murders in Las Vegas and suspects the culprit is a vampire. His editor thinks he's crazy and the police think he's a nuisance, so Kolchak takes matters into his own hands.

The Night Stalker

1972

Brannigan poster
6.0

A hard-nosed Chicago cop is sent to London to bring back an American mobster being held for extradition. Brannigan in his Irish-American way brings American law to the people of Scotland Yard but has to contend with a stuffy old London first.

Brannigan

1975

The Food of the Gods poster
5.0

Morgan and his friends are on a hunting trip on a remote Canadian island when they are attacked by a swarm of giant wasps. Looking for help, Morgan stumbles across a barn inhabited by an enormous killer chicken. After doing some exploring, they discover the entire island is crawling with animals that have somehow grown to giant size. The most dangerous of all of these, however, are the rats, who are mobilizing to do battle with the human intruders.

The Food of the Gods

1976

I Walk the Line poster
5.9

Henry Tawes, a middle-aged sheriff in a rural Tennessee town, is usually the first man to criticize others for their bad behavior. Miserable in his marriage, Henry falls in love with teenage seductress Alma, who is the daughter of local criminal and moonshiner Carl McCain. Henry's moral character comes further into question when he is tempted to conceal Carl's crimes in order to prolong his relationship with Alma.

I Walk the Line

1970

Winter Kills poster
5.7

The younger brother of an assassinated US President is led down a rabbit hole of conspiracies and dead ends after learning of a man claiming to be the real shooter.

Winter Kills

1979

Hi-Riders poster
6.1

A group of denim-clad drag-racers find themselves in trouble when a wealthy rancher's son dies during one of their competitions.

Hi-Riders

1978

The Dead Don't Die poster
6.0

In the 1930s, a sailor, trying to prove that his brother was wrongly executed for murder, finds himself becoming drawn into the occult.

The Dead Don't Die

1975

The Mind Snatchers poster
5.9

A German scientist works on a way of quelling overly aggressive soldiers by developing implants that directly stimulate the pleasure centers of the brain.

The Mind Snatchers

1972

The Girl on the Late, Late Show poster
5.5

A television producer decides to find out the whereabouts of a former movie actress whose career has long since faded, then discovers that his inquiries have set off a string of murders.

The Girl on the Late, Late Show

1974

Cry Panic poster
6.9

A man accidentally runs over and kills a pedestrian outside a small town. He begins to suspect that the locals, including the sheriff, are keeping secrets about the victim.

Cry Panic

1974

Birds of Prey poster
5.8

Harry Walker, a former military pilot, works as a helicopter pilot and traffic reporter for a Salt Lake City radio station. One day while working he observes a bank robbery in progress and the kidnapping of a young woman who worked at the bank. Harry goes into pursuit which leads to an exciting conclusion.

Birds of Prey

1973

My Boys Are Good Boys poster
7.8

Teenagers at a correctional facility devise a plan to rob an armored van.

My Boys Are Good Boys

1978

Night Games poster
6.5

A Harvard-educated, big-city lawyer moves to a small Arizona town to set up practice. His first case is defending a beautiful socialite accused of murdering her husband. This is the pilot TV movie for what would become the Petrocelli TV series.

Night Games

1974

Lost Flight poster
4.2

The captain of a downed airliner must help his crew and passengers survive on a deserted jungle island in the midst of a power struggle - an adult version of "Lord of the Flies."

Lost Flight

1970

You'll Never See Me Again poster
7.0

After a couple have an argument, the wife disappears. The husband searches for her, only to discover evidence that implicates him in her murder.

You'll Never See Me Again

1973

Angela – Love Comes Quietly poster
5.4

The story of a free-spirited girl who was born in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the 1920s, even the somewhat more tolerant people of the Netherlands (relative to the rest of Europe) did not easily suffer the open flouting of the rules of society. Cheerful and optimistic, Angela (Barbara Hershey) defied the conventions of her conservative Dutch family by traipsing about the countryside with her lover, living on what turned up each day. However, even for the sunniest of optimists such an idyll can have tragic consequences.

Angela – Love Comes Quietly

1973

The Reluctant Heroes poster
8.0

An army tale about an egghead ninety-day-wonder who relies on ancient tactics he remembers from the history books to save his beleaguered squad on an important mission in Korea.

The Reluctant Heroes

1971

The Alpha Incident poster
3.9

A microorganism from Mars, brought to Earth by a space probe, terrorizes passengers in a railroad office.

The Alpha Incident

1978

Johnny Firecloud poster
5.0

An American Indian war veteran avenges the hanging of his grandfather by local thugs.

Johnny Firecloud

1975

1960s · 9 titles

The Dirty Dozen poster
7.6

12 American military prisoners in World War II are ordered to infiltrate a well-guarded enemy château and kill the Nazi officers vacationing there. The soldiers, most of whom are facing death sentences for a variety of violent crimes, agree to the mission and the possible commuting of their sentences.

The Dirty Dozen

1967

The Detective poster
5.9

New York City Police detective Joe Leland investigates the grisly murder of Teddy Leikman, the gay son of a politically influential department store owner. While investigating, he discovers links to official corruption in NYC in this drama that delves into a world of sex and drugs, homophobia, homosexuality and bisexuality.

The Detective

1968

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre poster
6.3

Chicago February 14th 1929. Al Capone finally establishes himself as the city's boss of organised crime. In a north-side garage his hoods, dressed as policemen, surprise and mow down with machine-guns the key members of Bugs Moran's rival gang. The film traces the history of the incident, and the lives affected and in some cases ended by it.

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre

1967

Something Wild poster
6.2

A young rape victim tries desperately to pick up the pieces of her life, only to find herself at the mercy of a would-be rescuer.

Something Wild

1961

The Devil's Eight poster
5.2

The Devil's 8 is a 1969 film from American International Pictures. It is about a Federal agent (Christopher George) who recruits six convicts to bust a moonshine ring.

The Devil's Eight

1969

Gentle Giant poster
8.5

The Story of a boy and his bear. The TV series ‘Gentle Ben’ was spun-off from this movie.

Gentle Giant

1967

Wall of Noise poster
4.1

The lives and loves behind the scenes at the racetrack are detailed in this thoroughbred soap opera. An ambitious young trainer, Joel Tarrant (Ty Hardin), enters into an illicit affair with the stable owner's wealthy wife, hot-to-trot Laura Rubio (Suzanne Pleshette), in the hope that someday he'll have enough dough to buy his own horses and stable.

Wall of Noise

1963

Ada poster
6.5

A popular but naive country singer is elected governor of a southern state and, once in office, decides to dismantle the corrupt political machine that got him elected. Director Daniel Mann's 1961 political drama stars Susan Hayward, Dean Martin, Wilfred Hyde-White, Martin Balsam, Ralph Meeker, Connie Sawyer, William Walker, Ray Teal, Larry Gates and Kathryn Card.

Ada

1961

A Holster Full Of Law poster
8.0

Slaughter’s cattle are rustled, and when the sheriff is powerless to do anything about it, Slaughter is elected sheriff himself. With a band of skilled deputies, he brings law and order to Tombstone, and eventually settles his feud with the cattle rustler.

A Holster Full Of Law

1961

1950s · 17 titles

Paths of Glory poster
8.2

A commanding officer defends three scapegoats on trial for a failed offensive that occurred within the French Army in 1916.

Paths of Glory

1957

Kiss Me Deadly poster
7.2

One evening, Hammer gives a ride to Christina, an attractive hitchhiker on a lonely country road, who has escaped from the nearby lunatic asylum. Thugs waylay them and force his car to crash. When Hammer returns to semi-consciousness, he hears Christina being tortured until she dies. Hammer, both for vengeance and in hopes that "something big" is behind it all, decides to pursue the case.

Kiss Me Deadly

1955

Jeopardy poster
6.7

A woman is kidnapped when she goes to get help for her husband who is trapped on a beach with the tide coming in to surely drown him.

Jeopardy

1953

Run of the Arrow poster
6.1

When the South loses the war, Confederate veteran O'Meara goes West, joins the Sioux, takes a wife and refuses to be an American but he must choose a side when the Sioux go to war against the U.S. Army.

Run of the Arrow

1957

The Naked Spur poster
7.0

A bounty hunter trying to bring a murderer to justice is forced to accept the help of two less-than-trustworthy strangers.

The Naked Spur

1953

Four in a Jeep poster
6.2

Soviet, British, French and American allies patrol post-war Vienna.

Four in a Jeep

1951

Teresa poster
6.1

An Italian war bride has problems dealing with her husband's possessive mother.

Teresa

1951

The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown poster
6.0

When beautiful blonde movie star Laurel Stevens is kidnapped on the verge of the premiere of her film “The Kidnapped Bride”, everyone thinks it's a publicity stunt. It's not.

The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown

1957

Big House, U.S.A poster
6.5

A tough and realistic crime drama unfolds as merciless kidnapper Jerry Barker (Ralph Meeker) demands ransom paid against a young runaway whose fate lands Barker in Casabel Island Prison.

Big House, U.S.A

1955

Shadow in the Sky poster
7.0

Burt, a WW2 veteran suffering from battle fatigue, is deathly afraid of rain and confined to an asylum, but showing improvement. He wants to live with his sister's family, but they have young children.

Shadow in the Sky

1952

A Woman's Devotion poster
4.5

An artist suffering from mental problems from his experiences during the war goes to Acapulco on his honeymoon. Soon young women are turning up dead in the area, and the ex-GI comes to believe he might be responsible, as he has long stretches where he can't remember anything.

A Woman's Devotion

1956

Code Two poster
6.3

Three young men train to become motorcycle cops.

Code Two

1953

Desert Sands poster
5.0

The French Foreign Legion battles rebellious Arabs in North Africa.

Desert Sands

1955

Glory Alley poster
5.9

A New Orleans boxer leaves the ring to fight his inner demons.

Glory Alley

1952

Somebody Loves Me poster
8.8

Backstage musical biography of nightclub star Blossom Seeley that charts her rocky relationship with vaudeville singer Benny Fields.

Somebody Loves Me

1952

Four Women in Black poster
NR

Four nuns, led by Sister Teresa, begin a treacherous journey across the Arizona desert in 1870. Their faith enables them to deal with the challenges of nature and the hostility of their fellow mankind.

Four Women in Black

1957

No artwork available
NR

When Carl Spann's wife Else is assaulted by an unknown attacker, he drives his incoherent wife around town in search of the attacker

Revenge

1955

Series credits

Ironside poster
6.8

When an assassin's bullet confines him to a wheelchair for life ending his career as Chief of Detectives, Robert T. Ironside becomes a consultant to the police department. Detective Sergeant Ed Brown and policewoman Eve Whitfield join with him to crack varied and fascinating cases. Ex-con Mark Sanger is employed by the chief as home help but eventually becomes a fully fledged member of the team also. Officer Whitfield leaves after 4 years service, and is replaced by Officer Fran Belding.

Ironside

1967

The F.B.I. poster
5.6

The F.B.I. is an American television series that was broadcast on ABC from 1965 to 1974. It was sponsored by the Ford Motor Company, and the characters almost always drove Ford vehicles in the series. Alcoa was co-sponsor of Season One only.

The F.B.I.

1965

The F.B.I. poster
5.6

The F.B.I. is an American television series that was broadcast on ABC from 1965 to 1974. It was sponsored by the Ford Motor Company, and the characters almost always drove Ford vehicles in the series. Alcoa was co-sponsor of Season One only.

The F.B.I.

1965

The F.B.I. poster
5.6

The F.B.I. is an American television series that was broadcast on ABC from 1965 to 1974. It was sponsored by the Ford Motor Company, and the characters almost always drove Ford vehicles in the series. Alcoa was co-sponsor of Season One only.

The F.B.I.

1965

Studio One poster
5.4

An American radio–television anthology series, created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher Markle, who came to CBS from the CBC. Studio One, presented by Westinghouse, was one of the first of the anthology TV programs. The episodes were often abridged remakes of movies from years gone by and many future well-known television and movie actors appeared in the productions.

Studio One

1948

Studio One poster
5.4

An American radio–television anthology series, created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher Markle, who came to CBS from the CBC. Studio One, presented by Westinghouse, was one of the first of the anthology TV programs. The episodes were often abridged remakes of movies from years gone by and many future well-known television and movie actors appeared in the productions.

Studio One

1948

Climax! poster
3.8

Climax! is an American anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa. It was one of the few CBS programs of that era to be broadcast in color. Many of the episodes were performed and broadcast live.

Climax!

1954

Climax! poster
3.8

Climax! is an American anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa. It was one of the few CBS programs of that era to be broadcast in color. Many of the episodes were performed and broadcast live.

Climax!

1954

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre poster
6.2

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, sometimes simply called Zane Grey Theatre, is an American Western anthology series which ran on CBS from 1956 to 1961.

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre

1956

Police Woman poster
6.4

Sergeant “Pepper"” Anderson, an undercover cop for the Criminal Conspiracy Unit of the Los Angeles Police Department, poses undercover from mob girl to prostitute.

Police Woman

1974

Cannon poster
6.7

Cannon is a CBS detective television series produced by Quinn Martin which aired from March 26, 1971 to March 3, 1976. The primary protagonist is the title character, private detective Frank Cannon, played by William Conrad. He also appeared on two episodes of Barnaby Jones. Cannon is the first Quinn Martin-produced series to be aired on a network other than ABC. A "revival" television film, The Return of Frank Cannon, was aired on November 1, 1980. In total, there were 124 episodes.

Cannon

1971

Route 66 poster
6.7

After discovering that his late father has gone through most of the family fortune, Tod Stiles hits the title trans-America highway in his Corvette in search of adventure with friend Buz Murdock, a survivor of New York's mean streets. The two work odd jobs as they meet and interact with colorful characters and find themselves plunged into one situation after another, some of them romantic, some of them very dangerous. Later, Linc Case, a Vietnam war hero trying to find himself, takes over as Tod's travel companion.

Route 66

1960

Wanted: Dead or Alive poster
7.1

Wanted: Dead or Alive is an American Western television series starring Steve McQueen as the bounty hunter Josh Randall. It aired on CBS for three seasons from 1958–61. The black-and-white program was a spin-off of a March 1958 episode of Trackdown, a 1957–59 western series starring Robert Culp. Both series were produced by Four Star Television in association with CBS Television. The series launched McQueen into becoming the first television star to cross over into comparable status on the big screen.

Wanted: Dead or Alive

1958

The Defenders poster
6.3

The Defenders is an American courtroom drama series . It starred E. G. Marshall and Robert Reed as father-and-son defense attorneys who specialized in legally complex cases, with defendants such as neo-Nazis, conscientious objectors, civil rights demonstrators, a schoolteacher fired for being an atheist, an author accused of pornography, and a physician charged in a mercy killing.

The Defenders

1961

The High Chaparral poster
6.8

The High Chaparral is an American Western-themed television series starring Leif Erickson and Cameron Mitchell which aired on NBC from 1967 to 1971. The series, made by Xanadu Productions in association with NBC Productions, was created by David Dortort, who had previously created the hit Bonanza for the network. The theme song was also written and conducted by Bonanza scorer David Rose, who also scored the two-hour pilot.

The High Chaparral

1967

The Ed Sullivan Show poster
6.8

The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the CBS Sunday Night Movie, which ran only one season and was eventually replaced by other shows. In 2002, The Ed Sullivan Show was ranked #15 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.

The Ed Sullivan Show

1948

The Name of the Game poster
7.0

The Name of the Game is an American television series starring Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry, and Robert Stack that ran from 1968 to 1971 on NBC, totaling 76 episodes of 90 minutes. It was a pioneering wheel series, setting the stage for The Bold Ones and the NBC Mystery Movie in the 1970s. The show had an extremely large budget for a television series.

The Name of the Game

1968

The Rookies poster
6.9

The Rookies is an American crime drama series that aired on ABC from 1972 until 1976. It follows the exploits of three rookie police officers working in an unidentified city for the fictitious Southern California Police Department.

The Rookies

1972

Alfred Hitchcock Presents poster
7.8

A television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

1955

Alfred Hitchcock Presents poster
7.8

A television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

1955

Alfred Hitchcock Presents poster
7.8

A television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

1955

Alfred Hitchcock Presents poster
7.8

A television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents

1955

Kraft Suspense Theatre poster
6.5

No synopsis available yet.

Kraft Suspense Theatre

1963

The Outer Limits poster
7.8

The Outer Limits is an anthology tv series of self-contained sci-fi-horror stories, sometimes with a plot twist at the end.

The Outer Limits

1963

Police Story poster
7.0

Detective Cheng is commissioned by Interpol to destroy the Empire of Chaiba, a worldwide criminal organization based in Southeast Asia. He initiates an undercover operation to infiltrate the organization.

Police Story

1973

The Texan poster
6.0

The Texan was a Western television series starring popular B movie actor Rory Calhoun, which aired on the CBS television network from 1958 to 1960.

The Texan

1958

Harry O poster
5.2

After being shot in the line of duty, Harry Orwell was forced to retire from the San Diego Police Department. To supplement his police pension, Harry runs a private detective agency out of his beach house... The series starred David Janssen and was executive produced by Jerry Thorpe.

Harry O

1974

Room 222 poster
6.1

No synopsis available yet.

Room 222

1969

The 20th Century Fox Hour poster
6.0

The 20th Century Fox Hour is an American drama anthology series televised in the United States on CBS from 1955 to 1957. Some of the shows in this series were restored, remastered and shown on the Fox Movie Channel in 2002 under the title Hour of Stars. The season one episode Overnight Haul, starring Richard Conte and Lizabeth Scott, was released in Australia as a feature film.

The 20th Century Fox Hour

1955

Tarzan poster
6.9

Tarzan is a series that aired on NBC from 1966 – 1968. The series portrayed Tarzan as a well-educated character, one who, tired of civilization, had returned to the jungle where he had been raised. The show retained many of the trappings of the classic movie series, including Cheeta, while excluding other elements, such as Jane, as part of the "new look" for the fabled apeman that producer Sy Weintraub had introduced in previous motion pictures starring Gordon Scott, Jock Mahoney, and Mike Henry. CBS aired repeat episodes the program during the summer of 1969.

Tarzan

1966

The Green Hornet poster
7.4

The Green Hornet is a television series on the ABC US television network that aired for the 1966–1967 TV season starring Van Williams as the Green Hornet/Britt Reid and Bruce Lee as Kato.

The Green Hornet

1966

CHiPs poster
6.8

Lighthearted look at the adventures of two Highway Patrol officers in Los Angeles. The main characters are Jon Baker and Frank Poncherello, two motorcycle officers always on the street to save lives.

CHiPs

1977

Lux Video Theatre poster
6.7

Lux Video Theatre is an American anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1959. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays.

Lux Video Theatre

1950

Lux Video Theatre poster
6.7

Lux Video Theatre is an American anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1959. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays.

Lux Video Theatre

1950

Going My Way poster
5.8

Going My Way is an American comedy-drama series

Going My Way

1962

Kaz poster
7.0

Kaz is an American crime drama series that aired on CBS from September 10, 1978 to April 22, 1979.

Kaz

1978

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Not for Hire

1959

The Evil Touch poster
6.0

The Evil Touch is an Australian-produced television series, originally broadcast in Australia in 1973. It was an anthology series where each episode had a self-contained story and a new set of characters. Each episode feature a new cast of guest actors, although several guest stars appeared in more than one episode, playing different characters. Each story is a thriller or horror story of some variety, ranging from tales of the occult and the supernatural, science fiction horror stories, to more standard murder schemes and whodunits. Most stories feature a twist ending.

The Evil Touch

1973

Toma poster
6.8

This series Is based on the real-life story of New Jersey detective David Toma. Toma was a master of disguise and undercover work. Toma himself made a cameo appearance in many episodes.

Toma

1973

Barbary Coast poster
8.3

Barbary Coast is an American television series that aired on ABC. The pilot movie first aired on May 4, 1975 and the series itself premiered September 8, 1975; the last episode aired January 9, 1976. Barbary Coast was inspired by a similar 19th-century spy series, The Wild Wild West, and like the earlier program, Barbary Coast mixed the genres of Western and secret agent drama.

Barbary Coast

1975