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