Donald Meek

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.

Stagecoach

7.6

You Can't Take It with You

7.5

Captain Blood

7.2

Young Mr. Lincoln

7.2

Mark of the Vampire

6.1

The Return of Frank James

6.2

The Informer

6.7

Jesse James

6.4

The Thin Man Goes Home

7.1

A Woman's Face

7.0

State Fair

6.6

The Merry Widow

6.7

Peter Ibbetson

6.9

The Whole Town's Talking

6.8

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

6.5

Keeper of the Flame

6.6

China Seas

6.3

Double Wedding

6.5

My Little Chickadee

6.5

Bathing Beauty

5.8

Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet

6.3

Magic Town

6.7

Barbary Coast

6.6

Come Live with Me

6.9

Tortilla Flat

5.4

Babes on Broadway

6.4

Air Raid Wardens

7.1

Breakfast for Two

5.9

Kind Lady

6.6

Phantom Raiders

6.1

Love on the Run

6.4

Du Barry was a Lady

6.1

Having Wonderful Time

4.9

Nick Carter, Master Detective

5.7

Third Finger, Left Hand

6.8

Little Miss Broadway

6.6

The Toast of New York

5.8

Turnabout

6.0

Romance in Manhattan

7.8

You're a Sweetheart

4.0

Two Girls and a Sailor

5.7

Murder at the Vanities

5.4

One Rainy Afternoon

4.6

The Gilded Lily

6.4

College Coach

4.3

Hi, Nellie!

6.5

They Got Me Covered

5.9

Blondie Takes a Vacation

6.2

Make a Wish

5.9

Sky Murder

6.3

The Feminine Touch

5.1

The Hole in the Wall

4.9

Bedside

5.6

Pennies from Heaven

6.9

Parnell

4.6

The Defense Rests

7.0

Maid of Salem

5.9

Lost Angel

7.5

And So They Were Married

5.8

Blonde Inspiration

5.4

Hold That Co-ed

6.3

Colonel Effingham's Raid

5.7

Maisie Goes to Reno

6.2

The Return Of Peter Grimm

5.2

The Bride Comes Home

4.8

Baby Face Harrington

4.8

Because of Him

6.2

Hollywood Cavalcade

5.1

The Captain Hates the Sea

6.5

Barbary Coast Gent

4.6

What Every Woman Knows

7.0

The Fabulous Joe

5.8

Biography of a Bachelor Girl

6.3

The Man from Dakota

5.3

Barnacle Bill

7.7

Behind The Headlines

6.2

Society Doctor

6.3

The Wall Street Mystery

6.0

The Trans-Atlantic Mystery

4.3

Star Dust

4.7

Old Man Rhythm

6.3

Oh, Johnny, How You Can Love!

5.7

The Skull Murder Mystery

4.7

Seven Sweethearts

6.0

Maisie Gets Her Man

6.5

The Ghost Comes Home

5.0

The Wild Man of Borneo

6.5

Double Danger

6.5

The Housekeeper's Daughter

3.5

Rationing

3.0

Janie Gets Married

6.0

She Couldn't Take It

4.5

Artists & Models

6.0

Rise and Shine

6.0

Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch

6.0

The Last Gentleman

3.0

Happiness C.O.D.

6.0

Village Tale

4.5

Going Hollywood: The '30s

10.0

The Studio Murder Mystery

6.0

Affairs of Geraldine

0.0

Personal Maid

3.0

The Omaha Trail

7.0

Wayward

6.0

Hullabaloo

4.0

Murder in the Pullman

5.0

The Clyde Mystery

0.0

The Side Show Mystery

0.0

The Crane Poison Case

0.0

Six Cylinder Love

0.0

Goodbye Broadway

0.0

Three Married Men

0.0

Old Hutch

0.0

Two in a Crowd

0.0

Three Legionnaires

0.0

The Week End Mystery

0.0

The Cole Case

0.0

The Girl Habit

0.0

The Symphony Murder Mystery

0.0

Everybody's Old Man

0.0