Ralph Meeker made cynical men convincing and gave supporting soldiers an identity of their own. We value him especially in Paths of Glory, where he holds his place beside Kirk Douglas without competing for the film.
Fi1m perspective
In Paths of Glory (1957), Ralph Meeker holds our attention beside Kirk Douglas without trying to match the leading man's force. His Corporal Philippe Paris and Joe Turkel's Private Pierre Arnaud keep the soldiers from becoming an anonymous group, while Douglas's Colonel Dax takes us through the military's procedures. We were moved by Meeker because he makes Paris matter individually in a film so angry about military cruelty.
The Naked Spur (1953) gave him Roy Anderson, a cynical former Union officer in Anthony Mann's western. In Robert Aldrich's Kiss Me Deadly (1955), he played Mike Hammer, the unsavoury private detective who became his defining screen role. These parts made use of a husky, macho presence suited to cynical men and opportunists. We do not need to find such men charming to find them interesting, and Meeker's ability to make callousness convincing is a considerable asset.
The danger is that casting can do too much of the work: a tough man arrives and we think we know him already. From the late 1950s, Meeker moved towards supporting parts and extensive television work, including Not for Hire (1959–1960). Captain Stuart Kinder in The Dirty Dozen (1967) belongs to that later run of military and authority figures. There is a limit to how much interest a familiar tough manner can sustain without a part that gives it something more to do.
The useful test is what happens beside Douglas: Meeker supports a commanding performance and still registers as someone with his own claim on our concern. Some speeches in Stanley Kubrick's film press too hard, but Meeker and Turkel keep the soldiers individual enough for its anger to feel earned. We would start with that smaller part, where the danger of being overlooked is so clear. Then try Kiss Me Deadly for the less agreeable company of Mike Hammer.
Biography
Ralph Meeker (born Ralph Rathgeber) was an American actor. He first appeared on stage at Northwestern University and gained prominence in Broadway productions of Mister Roberts (1948–1951), for which he received a Theatre World Award, and Picnic (1953).
In film, he played Mike Hammer in Kiss Me Deadly (1955) and Cpl. Philippe Paris in Paths of Glory (1957). He later appeared as Captain Stuart Kinder in The Dirty Dozen (1967) and in The Anderson Tapes (1971). Meeker also worked extensively in television, including the series Not for Hire (1959–1960) and the television film The Night Stalker (1972).
After a stroke in 1980, he retired from acting. He died of a heart attack in Los Angeles on 5 August 1988.
