Thomas Donald Meek 14 July 1878 18 November 1946 was a ScottishAmerican 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 Cant 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 SpanishAmerican 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 Capras You Cant Take It With You and as whiskey salesman Samuel Peacock in John Fords Stagecoach From 1931 through 1932 Meek was featured as criminologist Dr Crabtree in a series of 12 Warner Brothers tworeel short subjects written by SS Van Dine Meek and Isabella Belle Walken married in Boston in a Methodist church on January 3 1909 By this marriage the Americanborn Belle Meek lost her United States citizenship by taking her husbands 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
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