Known For
Acting
Born
Jul 13, 1878
Died
Nov 18, 1946
Place of Birth
Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Credits
123 titles
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.
Known For
Filmography
Going Hollywood: The '30s
(archive footage)
Bob Hope's World of Comedy
Self - Tribute Montage (archive footage)
Magic Town
Mr. Twiddle
The Fabulous Joe
Henry Cadwallader, Lawyer
Affairs of Geraldine
Casper Millhouse
Janie Gets Married
Harley P. Stowers
Colonel Effingham's Raid
Doc Buden
Because of Him
Martin
State Fair
Hippenstahl
The Thin Man Goes Home
Willie Crump
Barbary Coast Gent
Bradford Bellamy I
Maisie Goes to Reno
Parsons
Bathing Beauty
Chester Klazenfrantz
Two Girls and a Sailor
Mr. Nizby
Rationing
Wilfred Ball
Lost Angel
Professor Catty
Du Barry Was a Lady
Mr. Jones / Duc de Choiseul
Air Raid Wardens
Eustace Middling
Keeper of the Flame
Mr Arbuthnot
They Got Me Covered
Little Old Man
Seven Sweethearts
Reverend Howgan, the Minister
The Omaha Trail
Engineer Jonah McCleod
Maisie Gets Her Man
Mr. Stickwell
Tortilla Flat
Paul D. Cummings
Babes on Broadway
Mr. Stone
Rise and Shine
Professor Philip Murray
The Feminine Touch
Captain Makepeace Liveright
A Woman's Face
Herman Rundvik
Barnacle Bill
"Pop" Cavendish
Blonde Inspiration
'Dusty' King
Come Live with Me
Joe Darsie
The Wild Man of Borneo
Professor Charles W. Birdo
Hullabaloo
Mr. Clyde Perkins
Third Finger, Left Hand
Mr. Flandrin
Sky Murder
Bartholomew
The Return of Frank James
McCoy
Phantom Raiders
Bartholomew
Turnabout
Henry, the Valet
Star Dust
Sam Wellman
The Ghost Comes Home
Mortimer Hopkins, Sr.
Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet
Mittelmeyer
The Man from Dakota
Mr. Vestry
My Little Chickadee
Amos Budge
Oh, Johnny, How You Can Love!
Adelbert Thistlebottom
Nick Carter, Master Detective
Bartholomew, the bee man
The Housekeeper's Daughter
Editor Wilson
Hollywood Cavalcade
Lyle P. Stout
Blondie Takes a Vacation
Jonathan N. Gillis
Young Mr. Lincoln
Prosecutor John Felder
Stagecoach
Samuel Peacock