Donald Meek
Age: N/A | From: Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Person Details
Birthday:
Aliases: Thomas Donald Meek
Gender: Male
Place of birth: Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Homepage:
Movie Involvements: 45
TV Involvements: 0
Most Famous Work
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.
Most Famous Work
Stagecoach
(1939) Samuel Peacock
Captain Blood
(1935) Dr. Whacker
The Return of Frank James
(1940) McCoy
Jesse James
(1939) McCoy
The Informer
(1935) Peter Mulligan
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
(1938) Sunday School Superintendent
Mark of the Vampire
(1935) Dr. Doskil
China Seas
(1935) Chess Player (uncredited)Acting
| Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | (archive footage) | |
| 1947 | Mr. Twiddle | |
| Henry Cadwallader, Lawyer | ||
| 1946 | Casper Millhouse | |
| Harley P. Stowers | ||
| Martin | ||
| Doc Buden | ||
| 1945 | Hippenstahl | |
| 1944 | Willie Crump | |
| Bradford Bellamy I | ||
| Parsons | ||
| Chester Klazenfrantz | ||
| Mr. Nizby | ||
| Wilfred Ball | ||
| 1943 | Professor Catty | |
| Mr. Jones / Duc de Choiseul | ||
| Eustace Middling | ||
| Mr Arbuthnot | ||
| Little Old Man | ||
| 1942 | Reverend Howgan, the Minister | |
| Engineer Jonah McCleod | ||
| Mr. Stickwell | ||
| Paul D. Cummings | ||
| 1941 | Mr. Stone | |
| Professor Philip Murray | ||
| Captain Makepeace Liveright | ||
| Herman Rundvik | ||
| "Pop" Cavendish | ||
| 'Dusty' King | ||
| Joe Darsie | ||
| Professor Charles W. Birdo | ||
| 1940 | Mr. Clyde Perkins | |
| Mr. Flandrin | ||
| Bartholomew | ||
| McCoy | ||
| Bartholomew | ||
| Henry - the Valet | ||
| Sam Wellman | ||
| Mortimer Hopkins, Sr. | ||
| Mittelmeyer | ||
| Mr. Vestry | ||
| Amos Budge | ||
| Adelbert Thistlebottom | ||
| 1939 | Bartholomew, the bee man | |
| Editor Wilson | ||
| Lyle P. Stout | ||
| Jonathan N. Gillis | ||
| Prosecutor John Felder | ||
| Samuel Peacock | ||
| McCoy | ||
| 1938 | Dean Thatcher | |
| Mr. Poppins | ||
| Willoughby Wendling | ||
| P.U. Rogers | ||
| Iradius P. Oglethorpe | ||
| Sunday School Superintendent | ||
| Gordon Ainsley, aka Henry Robinson | ||
| 1937 | Conway Jeeters | |
| Justice of the Peace | ||
| Judge Blynn (uncredited) | ||
| Joseph | ||
| Dr. Zimmer | ||
| Daniel Drew | ||
| Uriah S. Grant | ||
| Nicholas Daniel Murphy | ||
| Potter | ||
| Ezra Cheeves | ||
| 1936 | Gramp Smith | |
| Caretaker | ||
| Bennett | ||
| Mr. Gunnison | ||
| Mr. Frisbee | ||
| Judge | ||
| Hotel Manager | ||
| 1935 | Dr. Whacker | |
| The Judge | ||
| Mr. Foster | ||
| Mr. Slade | ||
| Thomas Sherridan | ||
| Sawbuck McTavish | ||
| Uncle Wyndersham | ||
| Mayor Everett Bartholomew | ||
| Chess Player (uncredited) | ||
| Paul Parker | ||
| Charlie | ||
| Peter Mulligan | ||
| Dr. Doskil | ||
| Seriah Skinner | ||
| Hoyt | ||
| Hankerson | ||
| Moxley | ||
| Minister | ||
| Mr. Irish, Moose Village General Store | ||
| 1934 | Valet | |
| Josephus Bushmills | ||
| Mr. Wiggs | ||
| Snibby the Jeweler (uncredited) | ||
| Fogg | ||
| Dr. Saunders | ||
| Judd Barr, Cabot's son | ||
| Dr. George Wiley | ||
| Durkin | ||
| 1933 | Spencer Trask | |
| 1932 | Dr. Crabtree - Criminologist | |
| Dr. Amos Crabtree | ||
| Dr. Amos Crabtree | ||
| Dr. Amos Crabtree | ||
| Dr. Crabtree | ||
| Dr. Crabtree | ||
| Hotel Clerk (uncredited) | ||
| Dr. Crabtree | ||
| Dr. Crabtree | ||
| 1931 | Dr. Amos Crabtree | |
| Doctor Crabtree | ||
| Dr. Amos Crabtree | ||
| Pa Ryan | ||
| Jonesy | ||
| 1929 | Goofy | |
| 1923 | Richard Burton | |
| Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
