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Donald Meek
Glasgow, Scotland, UK
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 i…
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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.
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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1984
Going Hollywood: The '30s
Movie (archive footage)
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1976
Bob Hope's World of Comedy
Movie Self - Tribute Montage (archive footage)
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1947
Magic Town
Movie Mr. Twiddle
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1947
The Fabulous Joe
Movie Henry Cadwallader, Lawyer
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1946
Affairs of Geraldine
Movie Casper Millhouse
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1946
Janie Gets Married
Movie Harley P. Stowers
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1946
Colonel Effingham's Raid
Movie Doc Buden
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1946
Because of Him
Movie Martin
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1945
State Fair
Movie Hippenstahl
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1944
The Thin Man Goes Home
Movie Willie Crump
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1944
Barbary Coast Gent
Movie Bradford Bellamy I
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1944
Maisie Goes to Reno
Movie Parsons
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1944
Bathing Beauty
Movie Chester Klazenfrantz
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1944
Two Girls and a Sailor
Movie Mr. Nizby
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1944
Rationing
Movie Wilfred Ball
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1943
Lost Angel
Movie Professor Catty
More credits
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1943
Du Barry Was a Lady
Movie Mr. Jones / Duc de Choiseul
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1943
Air Raid Wardens
Movie Eustace Middling
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1943
Keeper of the Flame
Movie Mr Arbuthnot
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1943
They Got Me Covered
Movie Little Old Man
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1942
Seven Sweethearts
Movie Reverend Howgan, the Minister
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1942
The Omaha Trail
Movie Engineer Jonah McCleod
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1942
Maisie Gets Her Man
Movie Mr. Stickwell
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1942
Tortilla Flat
Movie Paul D. Cummings
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1941
Babes on Broadway
Movie Mr. Stone
-
1941
Rise and Shine
Movie Professor Philip Murray
-
1941
The Feminine Touch
Movie Captain Makepeace Liveright
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1941
A Woman's Face
Movie Herman Rundvik
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1941
Barnacle Bill
Movie "Pop" Cavendish
-
1941
Blonde Inspiration
Movie 'Dusty' King
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1941
Come Live with Me
Movie Joe Darsie
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1941
The Wild Man of Borneo
Movie Professor Charles W. Birdo
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1940
Hullabaloo
Movie Mr. Clyde Perkins
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1940
Third Finger, Left Hand
Movie Mr. Flandrin
-
1940
Sky Murder
Movie Bartholomew
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1940
The Return of Frank James
Movie McCoy
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1940
Phantom Raiders
Movie Bartholomew
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1940
Turnabout
Movie Henry, the Valet
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1940
Star Dust
Movie Sam Wellman
-
1940
The Ghost Comes Home
Movie Mortimer Hopkins, Sr.
