Donald Meek

Donald Meek
File:Donald Meek in A Woman's Face trailer.jpg from the trailer for A Woman's Face (1941)
Born	(1878-07-14)14 July 1878 Glasgow, United Kingdom
Died	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1923–1946
Spouse(s)	Belle Walken

Donald Meek (14 July 1878 – 18 November 1946) was a Scottish American character actor. He was well known for his often nervous and fearful supporting roles.

Life and career

Donald Meek first worked as a stage actor and later became a film actor, starring 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, worrisome 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 twelve Warner Brothers two-reel short subjects written by S. S. Van Dine.

Death

Donald Meek died of leukemia on Monday, 18 November 1946 in Los Angeles, California. A prolific film actor in over 100 Hollywood movies during its Golden Age, he received a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Partial filmography

• Six Cylinder Love (1923)
• The Hole in the Wall (1929)
• Hi, Nellie! (1934)
• Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1934)
• Romance in Manhattan (1935)
• The Gilded Lily (1935)
• Mark of the Vampire (1935)
• The Informer (1935)
• She Couldn't Take It (1935)
• Peter Ibbetson (1935)
• Kind Lady (1935)
• Captain Blood (1935)
• The Bride Comes Home (1935)
• The Return of Peter Grimm (1935)
• Old Hutch (1936)
• Love on the Run (1936)
• Pennies from Heaven (1936)
• Behind the Headlines (1937)
• Maid of Salem (1937)
• Parnell (1937)
• The Toast of New York (1937)
• Double Wedding (1937)
• Breakfast for Two (1937)
• Artists and Models (1937)
• You Can't Take It With You (1938)
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938)
• Little Miss Broadway (1938)
• Double Danger (1938)
• Goodbye Broadway (1938)
• Jesse James (1939)
• Stagecoach (1939)

• Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
• Hollywood Cavalcade (1939)
• My Little Chickadee (1940)
• The Man from Dakota (1940)
• Phantom Raiders (1940)
• Sky Murder (1940)
• Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (1940)
• The Return of Frank James (1940)
• Third Finger, Left Hand (1940)
• Hullabaloo (1940)
• Come Live with Me (1941)
• Barnacle Bill (1941)
• A Woman's Face (1941)
• Babes on Broadway (1941)
• Tortilla Flat (1942)
• Maisie Gets Her Man (1942)
• The Omaha Trail (1942)
• Seven Sweethearts (1942)
• Keeper of the Flame (1942)
• Air Raid Wardens (1943)
• Du Barry Was a Lady (1943)
• Lost Angel (1943)
• Rationing (1944)
• Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)
• Bathing Beauty (1944)
• Maisie Goes to Reno (1944)
• Barbary Coast Gent (1944)
• The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
• State Fair (1945)
• Colonel Effingham's Raid (1946)
• Magic Town (1947)

External links

• Donald Meek at the Internet Movie Database
• Donald Meek at the Internet Broadway Database
• Donald Meek at Find a Grave
• Portraits of Donald Meek from Stagecoach by Ned Scott