Donald Meek
Biography
Thomas Donald Meek (14 July 1878 – 18 November 1946) was a Scottish-American actor. He first performed publicly at the age of eight and began appearing on Broadway in 1903. Meek is perhaps best known for his roles in the films You Can't Take It with You (1938) and Stagecoach (1939). He posthumously received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.
Meek was born in Glasgow to Matthew and Annie Meek. In the 1890s, the Meek family emigrated to Canada and then to the United States. By 1900, they were living in Philadelphia where Meek was employed as a dry goods salesman, according to the United States census of that year with Meek later working on stage.
After years on the stage, Meek became a film actor, appearing memorably in several movies including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Little Miss Broadway, and State Fair. Before becoming an actor, he fought in the Spanish–American War in the United States Army and contracted yellow fever which caused him to lose his hair. He was cast as timid, worried characters in many of his films, and is perhaps best known for his roles as Mr. Poppins in Frank Capra's You Can't Take It With You and as whiskey salesman Samuel Peacock in John Ford's Stagecoach.
From 1931 through 1932, Meek was featured as criminologist Dr. Crabtree in a series of 12 Warner Brothers two-reel short subjects written by S.S. Van Dine. Meek and Isabella "Belle" Walken married in Boston in a Methodist church on January 3, 1909. By this marriage, the American-born Belle Meek lost her United States citizenship by taking her husband's British nationality. Donald Meek died of leukaemia on 18 November 1946 in Los Angeles, while filming the role of Mr. Twiddle in Magic Town. A prolific film actor in over 100 Hollywood movies during its Golden Age, he received a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was entombed in the Fairmount Mausoleum at Fairmount Cemetery in Denver, Colorado.
Acting (113 movies)
Stagecoach
1939
Blondie Takes a Vacation
1939
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
1938
Come Live with Me
1941
Keeper of the Flame
1943
You Can't Take It with You
1938
A Woman's Face
1941
State Fair
1945
Mark of the Vampire
1935
Six Cylinder Love
1923
My Little Chickadee
1940
The Thin Man Goes Home
1944
Du Barry Was a Lady
1943
Bathing Beauty
1944
The Return of Frank James
1940
Jesse James
1939
Young Mr. Lincoln
1939
Air Raid Wardens
1943
Captain Blood
1935
Having Wonderful Time
1938
Phantom Raiders
1940
Sky Murder
1940
Nick Carter, Master Detective
1939
Third Finger, Left Hand
1940
The Toast of New York
1937
The Whole Town's Talking
1935
Two Girls and a Sailor
1944
Hollywood Cavalcade
1939
Murder at the Vanities
1934
Breakfast for Two
1937
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
1934
Peter Ibbetson
1935
The Feminine Touch
1941
Tortilla Flat
1942
Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet
1940
Maisie Gets Her Man
1942
The Hole in the Wall
1929
The Ghost Comes Home
1940
Turnabout
1940
Bedside
1934
The Wild Man of Borneo
1941
The Return Of Peter Grimm
1935
Double Danger
1938
College Coach
1933
Lost Angel
1943
Biography of a Bachelor Girl
1935
The Last Gentleman
1934
And So They Were Married
1936
The Man from Dakota
1940
Barnacle Bill
1941
One Rainy Afternoon
1936
Blonde Inspiration
1941
Romance in Manhattan
1935
Pennies from Heaven
1936
The Housekeeper's Daughter
1939
Rationing
1944
Janie Gets Married
1946
Happiness C.O.D.
1935
Make a Wish
1937
Behind The Headlines
1937
Goodbye Broadway
1938
Three Married Men
1936
Hold That Co-ed
1938
She Couldn't Take It
1935
Parnell
1937
Little Miss Broadway
1938
Village Tale
1935
The Gilded Lily
1935
Magic Town
1947
The Bride Comes Home
1935
Hi, Nellie!
1934
The Defense Rests
1934
Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984
Baby Face Harrington
1935
The Studio Murder Mystery
1932
Love on the Run
1936
The Captain Hates the Sea
1934
Barbary Coast
1935
Barbary Coast Gent
1944
They Got Me Covered
1943
Old Hutch
1936
Kind Lady
1935
Society Doctor
1935
Two in a Crowd
1936
The Wall Street Mystery
1931
Star Dust
1940
Old Man Rhythm
1935
China Seas
1935
Affairs of Geraldine
1946
Artists & Models
1937
Maid of Salem
1937
Personal Maid
1931
The Omaha Trail
1942
Because of Him
1946
Babes on Broadway
1941
The Informer
1935
Wayward
1932
Hullabaloo
1940
You're a Sweetheart
1937
The Merry Widow
1934
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