Ralph Nader

Acting

Ralph Nader

Born 1934-02-27 · Winsted, Connecticut, USA

Ralph Nader (born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. He became famous in the 1960s and 1970s for his book Unsafe at Any Speed, which criticized the automotive industry for its safety record and helped lead to the passage of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966. The son of Lebanese immigrants to the United States, Nader attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School. He first came to prominence in 1965 with the publication of the book Unsafe at Any Speed, a highly influential critique of the safety record of American automobile manufacturers. Following the publication of Unsafe at Any Speed, Nader led a group of volunteer law students—dubbed "Nader's Raiders"—in an investigation of the Federal Trade Commission, leading directly to that agency's overhaul and reform. In the 1970s, Nader leveraged his growing popularity to establish a number of advocacy and watchdog groups including the Public Interest Research Group, the Center for Auto Safety, and Public Citizen. Two of Nader's most notable targets were the Chevy Corvair and the Ford Pinto. Nader made four bids to become President of the United States, running with the Green Party in 1996 and 2000, the Reform Party in 2004, and as an independent in 2008. In each campaign, Nader said he sought to highlight under-reported issues and a perceived need for electoral reform. He received nearly three million votes during his 2000 candidacy, but also stirred controversy over allegations that his campaign helped Republican candidate George W. Bush win a close election against Democratic candidate Al Gore. A two-time Nieman Fellow, Nader is the author or co-author of more than two dozen books and was the subject of a documentary film on his life and work, An Unreasonable Man, which debuted at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. He has been repeatedly named to lists of the "100 Most Influential Americans", including those published by Life, Time, and The Atlantic. The New York Times described him as a "dissident".

Acting credits

Fun with Dick and Jane poster
6.2

After Dick Harper loses his job at Globodyne in an Enron-esque collapse, he and his wife, Jane, turn to crime in order to handle the massive debt they now face. Two intelligent people, Dick and Jane actually get pretty good at robbing people and even enjoy it – but they have second thoughts when they're reminded that crime can hurt innocent people. When the couple hears that Globodyne boss Jack McCallister actually swindled the company, they plot revenge.

Fun with Dick and Jane

2005

537 Votes poster
7.1

Documentary chronicling the political machinations that led to the unprecedented, contested outcome of the 2000 presidential election, including the chaotic voter recount in Florida that ended with George W. Bush winning by a razor-thin margin.

537 Votes

2020

POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold poster
6.4

A documentary about branding, advertising and product placement that is financed and made possible by brands, advertising and product placement.

POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

2011

Citizen Clark... A Life of Principle poster
10.0

For fifty years, former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark has challenged the abuses of U.S. power and championed the causes of human rights.

Citizen Clark... A Life of Principle

2017

No artwork available
NR

Filmmaker Jonah Green documents his father Mark Green's 2001 campaign for mayor of New York City, detailing how the events of 9/11 severely altered the landscape of the election itself.

Off the Record: The 9/11 Election

2003

The Last Election poster
NR

A look back at the "Last Election" moment of 2024 in America through several generations grappling with and attempting to reflect upon it.

The Last Election

2026

All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and the Spirit of I.F. Stone poster
7.4

Vancouver-based filmmaker and TV news veteran Fred Peabody explores the life and legacy of the maverick American journalist I.F. Stone, whose long one-man crusade against government deception lives on in the work of such contemporary filmmakers and journalists as Laura Poitras, Glenn Greenwald, David Corn, and Matt Taibbi.

All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and the Spirit of I.F. Stone

2016

Last Party 2000 poster
6.8

Filmed over the last six months of the 2000 Presidential election, Phillip Seymour Hoffman starts documenting the campaign at the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, but spends more time outside, in the street protests and police actions than in the orchestrated conventions. Hoffman shows an obvious distaste for money politics and the conservative right. He looks seedier and more disillusioned the campaign progresses. Eventually Hoffman seems most energized by the Ralph Nader campaign as an alternative to the nearly indistinguishable major parties. The high point of the film are the comments by Barney Frank who says that marches and demonstrations are largely a waste of time, and that the really effective political players such as the NRA and the AARP never bother with walk ins, sit-ins, shoot-ins or shuffles. In the interview with Jesse Jackson, Hoffman is too flustered to ask all of his questions.

Last Party 2000

2001

The Corporate Coup D'État poster
7.4

A democracy should protect its most vulnerable citizens, but increasingly the United States is failing to do so. This investigation blends the insights of experts with the experiences of citizens of the Rust Belt in the Midwest where the steel industry once flourished, but where closures and outsourcing have left urban areas desolate. It is here where Donald Trump finds some of his most fervent supporters.

The Corporate Coup D'État

2018

The 24 Hour War poster
6.9

In the early 1960s, Henry Ford II and Enzo Ferrari went to war on the battlefield of Le Mans. This epic battle saw drivers lose their lives, family dynasties nearly collapse, and the development of a new car that changed racing.

The 24 Hour War

2016

Sesame Street: Put Down the Duckie poster
6.8

The stars come out on Sesame Street in this fun-filled video featuring the show's most memorable moments. Sing-along in this star-studded celebration!

Sesame Street: Put Down the Duckie

1988

Superman's 50th Anniversary: A Celebration of the Man of Steel poster
8.0

A humourous telling of the history of the comic book superhero.

Superman's 50th Anniversary: A Celebration of the Man of Steel

1988

American Dictators: Staging of the 2004 Presidential Election poster
5.4

In Alex Jones' 11th feature documentary, made in 2004, Alex documents the major candidates in the staged 2004 United States presidential election.

American Dictators: Staging of the 2004 Presidential Election

2004

Yesterday's Tomorrows poster
8.5

Showtime's "In the 20th Century" is a millennium-related strand of feature-length documentaries in which famous directors take on major subjects of their choosing. In the third of the six films, "Yesterday's Tomorrows," filmmaker Barry Levinson delves into what we, as Americans, thought the future would be as we traveled through the 20th century. Houses and cars of the future, the promise of technology, and the other hopes and dreams of the early part of the century gave way to the fears and anxieties brought about by the atomic age and the Hollywood disaster films that followed. Soon we wondered if we could control technology, or if it would control us. This film is by turns light-hearted and thoughtful, and rare historical and archival film, produced by government and industry, alternates with on-screen interviews with people as diverse as consumer advocate Ralph Nader, cartoonist Matt Groening, futurist Alvin Toffler, comedienne Phyllis Diller, and actor Martin Mull.

Yesterday's Tomorrows

1999

Workers Con poster
10.0

Workers Compensation, is the Worker's Con, a process flawed, buried in bureaucracy, adding insult to injury.

Workers Con

2017

Daytime Revolution poster
10.0

For one extraordinary week in February 1972, the Revolution WAS televised. DAYTIME REVOLUTION takes us back in time to the week that John Lennon and Yoko Ono descended upon a Philadelphia broadcasting studio to co-host the iconic Mike Douglas Show, at that time the most popular show on daytime television, with a national audience of 40 million viewers each week. What followed was five unforgettable episodes of television, with Lennon and Ono at the helm and Douglas gamely keeping the show on track.

Daytime Revolution

2024

An Unreasonable Man poster
7.8

An Unreasonable Man is a 2006 documentary film that traces the life and career of political activist Ralph Nader, the founder of modern consumer protection. The film examines Nader's advocacy for auto safety features, such as federally mandated seat belts and air bags, as well as his rise to national prominence following an invasion of privacy lawsuit against General Motors.

An Unreasonable Man

2007

Hempsters: Plant the Seed poster
6.7

The film follows the lively exploits of activists for (and against) the movement for the legalization of the hemp plant in America. It features Woody Harrelson, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, and a whole host of farmers, politicians, businessmen, and laypeople as they search for the truth about this mysterious and demonized plant.

Hempsters: Plant the Seed

2008

Overdrawn! poster
NR

Explores the predatory lending practices of the major national banks, focusing on overdraft fees. Also explores the larger issues of corporate domination of our culture and government.

Overdrawn!

2007

The Great Postal Heist poster
8.0

The Great Postal Heist follows director Jay Galione's father, a 30-year US Post Office clerk, who was harassed, threatened, and fired for standing up for his colleagues. A moving indictment of the toxic culture and push to downsize, the documentary chronicles the journey of postal workers, experts, and advocates who experienced firsthand the abuses in the oldest federal agency in America and stood up against the USPS's notoriously violent work environment, featuring interviews with Ralph Nader and Richard Wolff. The atmosphere was a result of systematic dismantling and privatization of the trillion-dollar mail industry by lobbyists and politicians who seek to make profits at the expense of the mental health, living wages, and working conditions of their employees.

The Great Postal Heist

2022

The Arab Americans poster
NR

The history of Arab-Americans and their contribution to the American fabric.

The Arab Americans