Donald Meek
122 movies
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Jul 13, 1878
- Died
- Nov 18, 1946 (age 68)
- Place of birth
- Glasgow, Scotland, UK
- Also known as
- Thomas 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.
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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.
Profiles IMDb
Known for
Donald Meek: movies and TV shows
Acting (122)
- 1984 Going Hollywood: The '30s
as (archive footage)
- 1947 Magic Town
as Mr. Twiddle
- 1947 The Fabulous Joe
as Henry Cadwallader, Lawyer
- 1946 Affairs of Geraldine
as Casper Millhouse
- 1946 Janie Gets Married
as Harley P. Stowers
- 1946 Colonel Effingham's Raid
as Doc Buden
- 1946 Because of Him
as Martin
- 1945 State Fair
as Hippenstahl
- 1944 The Thin Man Goes Home
as Willie Crump
- 1944 Barbary Coast Gent
as Bradford Bellamy I
- 1944 Maisie Goes to Reno
as Parsons
- 1944 Bathing Beauty
as Chester Klazenfrantz
- 1944 Two Girls and a Sailor
as Mr. Nizby
- 1944 Rationing
as Wilfred Ball
- 1943 Lost Angel
as Professor Catty
- 1943 Du Barry Was a Lady
as Mr. Jones / Duc de Choiseul
- 1943 Air Raid Wardens
as Eustace Middling
- 1943 Keeper of the Flame
as Mr Arbuthnot
- 1943 They Got Me Covered
as Little Old Man
- 1942 Seven Sweethearts
as Reverend Howgan, the Minister
- 1942 The Omaha Trail
as Engineer Jonah McCleod
- 1942 Maisie Gets Her Man
as Mr. Stickwell
- 1942 Tortilla Flat
as Paul D. Cummings
- 1941 Babes on Broadway
as Mr. Stone
- 1941 Rise and Shine
as Professor Philip Murray
- 1941 The Feminine Touch
as Captain Makepeace Liveright
- 1941 A Woman's Face
as Herman Rundvik
- 1941 Barnacle Bill
as "Pop" Cavendish
- 1941 Blonde Inspiration
as 'Dusty' King
- 1941 Come Live with Me
as Joe Darsie
- 1941 The Wild Man of Borneo
as Professor Charles W. Birdo
- 1940 Hullabaloo
as Mr. Clyde Perkins
- 1940 Third Finger, Left Hand
as Mr. Flandrin
- 1940 Sky Murder
as Bartholomew
- 1940 The Return of Frank James
as McCoy
- 1940 Phantom Raiders
as Bartholomew
- 1940 Turnabout
as Henry, the Valet
- 1940 Star Dust
as Sam Wellman
- 1940 The Ghost Comes Home
as Mortimer Hopkins, Sr.
- 1940 Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet
as Mittelmeyer
- 1940 The Man from Dakota
as Mr. Vestry
- 1940 My Little Chickadee
as Amos Budge
- 1940 Oh, Johnny, How You Can Love!
as Adelbert Thistlebottom
- 1939 Nick Carter, Master Detective
as Bartholomew, the bee man
- 1939 The Housekeeper's Daughter
as Editor Wilson
- 1939 Hollywood Cavalcade
as Lyle P. Stout
- 1939 Blondie Takes a Vacation
as Jonathan N. Gillis
- 1939 Young Mr. Lincoln
as Prosecutor John Felder
- 1939 Stagecoach
as Samuel Peacock
- 1939 Jesse James
as McCoy
- 1938 Hold That Co-ed
as Dean Thatcher
- 1938 You Can't Take It with You
as Poppins
- 1938 Little Miss Broadway
as Willoughby Wendling
- 1938 Having Wonderful Time
as P.U. Rogers
- 1938 Goodbye Broadway
as Iradius P. Oglethorpe
- 1938 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
as Sunday School Superintendent
- 1938 Double Danger
as Gordon Ainsley, aka Henry Robinson
- 1937 You're a Sweetheart
as Conway Jeeters
- 1937 Breakfast for Two
as Justice of the Peace
- 1937 Double Wedding
as Judge Blynn (uncredited)
- 1937 Make a Wish
as Joseph
- 1937 Artists & Models
as Dr. Zimmer
- 1937 The Toast of New York
as Daniel Drew
- 1937 Three Legionnaires
as Uriah S. Grant
- 1937 Parnell
as Nicholas Daniel Murphy
- 1937 Behind The Headlines
as Potter
- 1937 Maid of Salem
as Ezra Cheeves
- 1936 Pennies from Heaven
as Gramp Smith
- 1936 Love on the Run
as Caretaker
- 1936 Two in a Crowd
as Bennett
- 1936 Old Hutch
as Mr. Gunnison
- 1936 Three Married Men
as Mr. Frisbee
- 1936 One Rainy Afternoon
as Judge
- 1936 And So They Were Married
as Hotel Manager
- 1936 Everybody's Old Man
as Finney
- 1935 Captain Blood
as Dr. Whacker
- 1935 The Bride Comes Home
as The Judge
- 1935 Kind Lady
as Mr. Foster
- 1935 Peter Ibbetson
as Mr. Slade
- 1935 Happiness C.O.D.
as Thomas Sherridan
- 1935 Barbary Coast
as Sawbuck McTavish
- 1935 She Couldn't Take It
as Uncle Wyndersham
- 1935 The Return Of Peter Grimm
as Mayor Everett Bartholomew
- 1935 China Seas
as Chess Player (uncredited)
- 1935 Old Man Rhythm
as Paul Parker
- 1935 Village Tale
as Charlie
- 1935 The Informer
as Peter Mulligan
- 1935 Mark of the Vampire
as Dr. Doskil
- 1935 Baby Face Harrington
as Skinner
- 1935 The Whole Town's Talking
as Hoyt
- 1935 The Gilded Lily
as Hankerson
- 1935 Society Doctor
as Moxley
- 1935 Biography of a Bachelor Girl
as Mr. Irish, Moose Village General Store
- 1934 Romance in Manhattan
as Minister
- 1934 The Captain Hates the Sea
as Josephus Bushmills
- 1934 The Merry Widow
as Valet
- 1934 Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
as Mr. Wiggs
- 1934 What Every Woman Knows
as Snibby the Jeweler (uncredited)
- 1934 The Defense Rests
as Fogg
- 1934 Murder at the Vanities
as Dr. Saunders
- 1934 The Last Gentleman
as Judd Barr, Cabot's son
- 1934 Bedside
as Dr. George Wiley
- 1934 Hi, Nellie!
as Durkin
- 1933 College Coach
as Spencer Trask
- 1933 Love, Honor and Oh, Baby!
as Luther Bowen
- 1932 The Trans-Atlantic Mystery
as Dr. Crabtree - Criminologist
- 1932 The Crane Poison Case
as Dr. Amos Crabtree
- 1932 The Side Show Mystery
as Dr. Amos Crabtree
- 1932 Murder in the Pullman
as Dr. Amos Crabtree
- 1932 The Cole Case
as Dr. Crabtree
- 1932 The Skull Murder Mystery
as Dr. Crabtree
- 1932 Wayward
as Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
- 1932 The Studio Murder Mystery
as Dr. Crabtree
- 1932 The Symphony Murder Mystery
as Dr. Crabtree
- 1931 The Week End Mystery
as Dr. Amos Crabtree
- 1931 The Wall Street Mystery
as Doctor Crabtree
- 1931 The Clyde Mystery
as Dr. Amos Crabtree
- 1931 Personal Maid
as Pa Ryan
- 1931 The Girl Habit
as Jonesy
- 1930 The Love Kiss
as William
- 1929 The Hole in the Wall
as Goofy
- 1923 Six Cylinder Love
as Richard Burton