Donald Meek

Acting · 0.7 popularity

Age

148

Movies

123

Born: July 13, 1878 – November 18, 1946
From: Glasgow, Scotland, UK

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.

Works

123 films

Stagecoach

19397.6

Bathing Beauty

19445.9

You Can't Take It with You

19387.5

Captain Blood

19357.2

Jesse James

19396.5

Magic Town

19476.7

Young Mr. Lincoln

19397.2

The Return of Frank James

19406.3

Hi, Nellie!

19346.7

Peter Ibbetson

19357.0

Air Raid Wardens

19437.1

Society Doctor

19357.3

Two Girls and a Sailor

19445.8

The Wild Man of Borneo

19416.7

A Woman's Face

19416.8

China Seas

19356.2

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

19386.6

Du Barry Was a Lady

19436.5

Babes on Broadway

19416.6

Barbary Coast

19356.4

Bob Hope's World of Comedy

1976

The Merry Widow

19346.7

Parnell

19374.6

Keeper of the Flame

19436.6

The Thin Man Goes Home

19447.1

The Informer

19356.8

Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet

19406.5

The Whole Town's Talking

19356.9

Tortilla Flat

19425.8

Going Hollywood: The '30s

19849.0

Two in a Crowd

19368.0

Maisie Goes to Reno

19446.6

Third Finger, Left Hand

19407.0

Mark of the Vampire

19356.2

Blonde Inspiration

19415.8

State Fair

19456.6

Pennies from Heaven

19367.2

Double Wedding

19376.4

Little Miss Broadway

19386.5

Maid of Salem

19376.2

Wayward

19326.3

Biography of a Bachelor Girl

19356.8

The Housekeeper's Daughter

19394.6

The Toast of New York

19376.2

Murder at the Vanities

19345.6

The Ghost Comes Home

19405.7

The Omaha Trail

19427.0

Nick Carter, Master Detective

19396.0

What Every Woman Knows

19347.6

Come Live with Me

19416.8

My Little Chickadee

19406.5

She Couldn't Take It

19355.3

The Gilded Lily

19356.7

Make a Wish

19375.8

Colonel Effingham's Raid

19466.0

Old Man Rhythm

19357.0

Behind The Headlines

19376.6

You're a Sweetheart

19374.6

The Girl Habit

19318.0

The Bride Comes Home

19355.1

Breakfast for Two

19375.9

Hollywood Cavalcade

19396.2

College Coach

19334.6

Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch

19346.0

They Got Me Covered

19436.2

Phantom Raiders

19406.1

Seven Sweethearts

19426.3

One Rainy Afternoon

19365.0

Having Wonderful Time

19384.9

Six Cylinder Love

192310.0

Sky Murder

19406.8

Barbary Coast Gent

19445.5

The Defense Rests

19347.1

Turnabout

19406.0

Village Tale

19357.3

Artists & Models

19376.3

Baby Face Harrington

19355.4

Hold That Co-ed

19386.7

Everybody's Old Man

19368.0

Love on the Run

19366.5

The Feminine Touch

19415.1

The Wall Street Mystery

19316.2

Hullabaloo

19406.5

Kind Lady

19356.8

Lost Angel

19438.0

Love, Honor and Oh, Baby!

19338.0

Maisie Gets Her Man

19426.7

And So They Were Married

19366.4

Personal Maid

19316.5

The Captain Hates the Sea

19346.4

Romance in Manhattan

19347.8

The Hole in the Wall

19295.4

Because of Him

19466.3

Oh, Johnny, How You Can Love!

19406.5

The Fabulous Joe

19475.5

Janie Gets Married

19467.3

Bedside

19345.6

Goodbye Broadway

193810.0

The Symphony Murder Mystery

19326.7

Affairs of Geraldine

19467.0

Rise and Shine

19417.3

The Trans-Atlantic Mystery

19325.4

Double Danger

19387.3

The Return Of Peter Grimm

19356.0

Old Hutch

193610.0

Barnacle Bill

19417.8

Happiness C.O.D.

19357.5

Star Dust

19405.7

The Man from Dakota

19405.8

The Last Gentleman

19345.0

Three Married Men

19368.0

Rationing

19444.0

Murder in the Pullman

19327.0

Three Legionnaires

19378.0

The Cole Case

19329.0

The Skull Murder Mystery

19325.8

Blondie Takes a Vacation

19396.3

The Studio Murder Mystery

19327.5

The Love Kiss

19307.0

The Side Show Mystery

19329.0

The Clyde Mystery

19319.0

The Week End Mystery

19319.0

The Crane Poison Case

19327.0