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