Born Ralph Rathgeber, he began acting on the professional stage in the early '40s. He successfully took over the role of Stanley Kowalski (from Marlon Brando, who originated it) in Broadway's A Streetcar Named Desire, leading to an invitation from Hollywood. He debuted onscreen in 1951, playing lead and character roles in numerous films over the next three decades; he tended to play virile, arrogant, self-confident characters with a mean or cowardly streak. His first major film success was as Mike Hammer in Kiss Me Deadly (1955). His greatest triumph onstage was as the star of William Inge's Picnic in 1953.