Ralph Meeker
Biography
Ralph Meeker was an American actor who worked across stage, film and television. Born in Minneapolis in 1920 and raised in Michigan and Chicago, he began on stage in minor Broadway roles in Strange Fruit and Cyrano de Bergerac, then won a Theatre World Award for Mister Roberts and a New York Critic's Circle Award for Picnic. He succeeded Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski in the original Broadway run of A Streetcar Named Desire, and made his film debut in Four in a Jeep (1951). Meeker became known for a husky, macho screen presence in films including The Naked Spur (1953), Kiss Me Deadly (1955), Paths of Glory (1957), Something Wild (1961), The Dirty Dozen (1967), The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967), I Walk the Line (1970) and The Anderson Tapes (1971). On television he led the series Not for Hire and appeared in The Night Stalker (1972). His last screen role was in Without Warning (1980).
67years old at death
- Born Minneapolis
- Died Woodland Hills
- Star sign: ScorpioLast day of the sign, on the Sagittarius cusp
Movie Career
- Films
- 20
- Career span
- 27 years1953 to 1980
First and latest
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Big break
Meeker's big break came when he took over as Stanley Kowalski from Marlon Brando during the second year of the original Broadway run of A Streetcar Named Desire, which Elia Kazan directed. He began in June 1949 and stayed until the run closed in December, then toured with the show.
First role
Meeker's first film was the Swiss production Four in a Jeep (1951), directed by Leopold Lindtberg. In it he had a starring part opposite Viveca Lindfors.
First role
Meeker was the understudy for Henry Fonda in the Broadway production of Mister Roberts, and Theatre World named him one of the 12 most promising actors of the 1947-48 season.
Ralph Meeker movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Robert Aldrich directed two of these films. Charles Bronson appears in three of them, more than any other actor. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Charles Bronson's page
Christopher Walken's page
Robert Ryan's page
Martin Balsam's page
Charles Watts's page
Joe Turkel's page
All films by Robert Aldrich
Also two films together1 more actor
- Jan MerlinThe St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967) and Big House, U.S.A (1955)
When several people share the same number of films, the ones with the most films on Netflix are in the chart.
Box office
What Ralph Meeker's films earned in cinemas worldwide.
Combined worldwide box office
$58.7 million
5 of the 20 films have a worldwide figure.
Of the 20 films: 5 worldwide figure; 2 us gross only; 2 never in cinemas; 11 figure not found.
- 5Worldwide figure
- 2US gross only
- 2Never in cinemas
- 11Figure not found
Highest grossing
The five biggest films earned 100% of the total. The bars are drawn to scale.
- 1$45M77.1% of the total
- 2$6.5M11.1% of the total
- 3$5.0M8.5% of the total
- 4$1.2M2.0% of the total
- 5$726K1.2% of the total
Awards
One award and honor.
| Year | Award | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other honors | |||
| 1948 | Theatre World Award | Won | |
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.