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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
July 13, 1878
Died
November 18, 1946
Place of Birth
Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Also Known As
- Thomas Donald Meek
Donald Meek
0.3 Popularity
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
10.0
(archive footage)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984
6.7
Mr. Twiddle
Magic Town
1947
5.8
Henry Cadwallader, Lawyer
The Fabulous Joe
1947
0.0
Casper Millhouse
Affairs of Geraldine
1946
6.0
Harley P. Stowers
Janie Gets Married
1946
5.7
Doc Buden
Colonel Effingham's Raid
1946
6.2
Martin
Because of Him
1946
6.6
Hippenstahl
State Fair
1945
7.1
Willie Crump
The Thin Man Goes Home
1944
4.6
Bradford Bellamy I
Barbary Coast Gent
1944
Credits
Going Hollywood: The '30s
as (archive footage)
1984
10.0
Magic Town
as Mr. Twiddle
1947
6.7
The Fabulous Joe
as Henry Cadwallader, Lawyer
1947
5.8
Affairs of Geraldine
as Casper Millhouse
1946
0.0
Janie Gets Married
as Harley P. Stowers
1946
6.0
Colonel Effingham's Raid
as Doc Buden
1946
5.7
Because of Him
as Martin
1946
6.2
State Fair
as Hippenstahl
1945
6.6
The Thin Man Goes Home
as Willie Crump
1944
7.1
Barbary Coast Gent
as Bradford Bellamy I
1944
4.6
Maisie Goes to Reno
as Parsons
1944
6.2
Bathing Beauty
as Chester Klazenfrantz
1944
5.8
Two Girls and a Sailor
as Mr. Nizby
1944
5.7
Rationing
as Wilfred Ball
1944
3.0
Lost Angel
as Professor Catty
1943
7.5
Du Barry Was a Lady
as Mr. Jones / Duc de Choiseul
1943
6.1
Air Raid Wardens
as Eustace Middling
1943
7.1
Keeper of the Flame
as Mr Arbuthnot
1943
6.6
They Got Me Covered
as Little Old Man
1943
5.9
Seven Sweethearts
as Reverend Howgan, the Minister
1942
6.0
The Omaha Trail
as Engineer Jonah McCleod
1942
7.0
Maisie Gets Her Man
as Mr. Stickwell
1942
6.5
Tortilla Flat
as Paul D. Cummings
1942
5.4
Babes on Broadway
as Mr. Stone
1941
6.4
Rise and Shine
as Professor Philip Murray
1941
6.0
The Feminine Touch
as Captain Makepeace Liveright
1941
5.1
A Woman's Face
as Herman Rundvik
1941
6.9
Barnacle Bill
as "Pop" Cavendish
1941
7.7
Blonde Inspiration
as 'Dusty' King
1941
5.4
Come Live with Me
as Joe Darsie
1941
7.0
The Wild Man of Borneo
as Professor Charles W. Birdo
1941
6.5
Hullabaloo
as Mr. Clyde Perkins
1940
4.0
Third Finger, Left Hand
as Mr. Flandrin
1940
6.8
Sky Murder
as Bartholomew
1940
6.3
The Return of Frank James
as McCoy
1940
6.3
Phantom Raiders
as Bartholomew
1940
6.1
Turnabout
as Henry, the Valet
1940
6.0
Star Dust
as Sam Wellman
1940
4.7
The Ghost Comes Home
as Mortimer Hopkins, Sr.
1940
5.0
Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet
as Mittelmeyer
1940
6.4
The Man from Dakota
as Mr. Vestry
1940
5.3
My Little Chickadee
as Amos Budge
1940
6.4
🎬
Oh, Johnny, How You Can Love!
as Adelbert Thistlebottom
1940
5.7
Nick Carter, Master Detective
as Bartholomew, the bee man
1939
5.7
The Housekeeper's Daughter
as Editor Wilson
1939
3.5
Hollywood Cavalcade
as Lyle P. Stout
1939
5.1
Blondie Takes a Vacation
as Jonathan N. Gillis
1939
6.2
Young Mr. Lincoln
as Prosecutor John Felder
1939
7.2
Stagecoach
as Samuel Peacock
1939
7.6
Jesse James
as McCoy
1939
6.4
Hold That Co-ed
as Dean Thatcher
1938
6.3
You Can't Take It with You
as Mr. Poppins
1938
7.5
Little Miss Broadway
as Willoughby Wendling
1938
6.6
Having Wonderful Time
as P.U. Rogers
1938
4.9
Goodbye Broadway
as Iradius P. Oglethorpe
1938
0.0
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
as Sunday School Superintendent
1938
6.5
Double Danger
as Gordon Ainsley, aka Henry Robinson
1938
6.5
You're a Sweetheart
as Conway Jeeters
1937
4.2
Breakfast for Two
as Justice of the Peace
1937
5.9
Double Wedding
as Judge Blynn (uncredited)
1937
6.6
Make a Wish
as Joseph
1937
5.5
Artists & Models
as Dr. Zimmer
1937
6.0
The Toast of New York
as Daniel Drew
1937
5.8
🎬
Three Legionnaires
as Uriah S. Grant
1937
0.0
Parnell
as Nicholas Daniel Murphy
1937
4.6
Behind The Headlines
as Potter
1937
6.2
Maid of Salem
as Ezra Cheeves
1937
5.9
Pennies from Heaven
as Gramp Smith
1936
6.9
Love on the Run
as Caretaker
1936
6.4
Two in a Crowd
as Bennett
1936
0.0
Old Hutch
as Mr. Gunnison
1936
0.0
Three Married Men
as Mr. Frisbee
1936
0.0
One Rainy Afternoon
as Judge
1936
4.6
And So They Were Married
as Hotel Manager
1936
5.8
Everybody's Old Man
as Finney
1936
0.0
Captain Blood
as Dr. Whacker
1935
7.2
The Bride Comes Home
as The Judge
1935
4.8
Kind Lady
as Mr. Foster
1935
6.6
Peter Ibbetson
as Mr. Slade
1935
6.8
Happiness C.O.D.
as Thomas Sherridan
1935
6.0
Barbary Coast
as Sawbuck McTavish
1935
6.6
She Couldn't Take It
as Uncle Wyndersham
1935
4.5
The Return Of Peter Grimm
as Mayor Everett Bartholomew
1935
5.2
China Seas
as Chess Player (uncredited)
1935
6.3
Old Man Rhythm
as Paul Parker
1935
6.3
Village Tale
as Charlie
1935
4.5
The Informer
as Peter Mulligan
1935
6.7
Mark of the Vampire
as Dr. Doskil
1935
6.1
Baby Face Harrington
as Skinner
1935
4.8
The Whole Town's Talking
as Hoyt
1935
6.8
The Gilded Lily
as Hankerson
1935
6.4
Society Doctor
as Moxley
1935
6.3
Romance in Manhattan
as Minister
1935
7.8
Biography of a Bachelor Girl
as Mr. Irish, Moose Village General Store
1935
6.3
The Merry Widow
as Valet
1934
6.8
The Captain Hates the Sea
as Josephus Bushmills
1934
6.5
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
as Mr. Wiggs
1934
6.0
What Every Woman Knows
as Snibby the Jeweler (uncredited)
1934
7.0
The Defense Rests
as Fogg
1934
7.0
Murder at the Vanities
as Dr. Saunders
1934
5.4
The Last Gentleman
as Judd Barr, Cabot's son
1934
3.0
Bedside
as Dr. George Wiley
1934
5.6
Hi, Nellie!
as Durkin
1934
6.5
College Coach
as Spencer Trask
1933
4.2
🎬
The Trans-Atlantic Mystery
as Dr. Crabtree - Criminologist
1932
4.3
🎬
The Crane Poison Case
as Dr. Amos Crabtree
1932
0.0
🎬
The Side Show Mystery
as Dr. Amos Crabtree
1932
0.0
🎬
Murder in the Pullman
as Dr. Amos Crabtree
1932
5.0
🎬
The Cole Case
as Dr. Crabtree
1932
0.0
The Skull Murder Mystery
as Dr. Crabtree
1932
4.8
Wayward
as Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
1932
6.0
The Studio Murder Mystery
as Dr. Crabtree
1932
6.0
The Symphony Murder Mystery
as Dr. Crabtree
1932
0.0
The Week End Mystery
as Dr. Amos Crabtree
1931
0.0
The Wall Street Mystery
as Doctor Crabtree
1931
6.0
🎬
The Clyde Mystery
as Dr. Amos Crabtree
1931
0.0
Personal Maid
as Pa Ryan
1931
3.0
The Girl Habit
as Jonesy
1931
0.0
The Hole in the Wall
as Goofy
1929
5.2
Six Cylinder Love
as Richard Burton
1923
0.0