Media History Digital Library (1944)

(Donald cYYbmk ON a memorable occasion in Australia, Don¬ ald Meek wore lace collars and velvet pants in the role of Little Lord Fauntleioy. He atoned for it later by joining a cir¬ cus aerial act at the age of 9, and again at 17 when he was wounded in the Spanish-American War. Meek was born in Glasgow, the son of Mathew and Annie Meek, on July 14. The lad first went on the stage in the Theater Royal as an acrobat in a wire-walking act. It was then that his uncle, Joseph Hutchinson, a Brit¬ ish producer, had need of a boy for the Fauntleroy role in Australia. When he had escaped from the lace and velvet, Donald signed up with another acro¬ batic act. He was the "top mount" man who went up to the peak of a human pyramid. The act toured Australia, then sailed to Can¬ ada and joined the Forepaugh Circus. Meek stayed with it. In Hamilton, the pyramid buckled and the top man fell. Meek was in a plaster cast for twelve weeks. On his feet again, Meek joined a road com¬ pany touring the eastern United States, play¬ ing eleven shows a week. He graduated from that to stock in Rochester, then to the Castle Square Theater in Boston where he played for ten years. His time in stock totals twenty-two years. That period was interrupted by the SpanishAmerican War. Meek enlisted in the 6th Penn¬ sylvania Volunteers and went to Cuba. A Mauser ball ripped his arm. A field surgeon marked with indelible the spot for amputation and sent Meek back. He spat on the mark, rubbed it out and saved the arm. Meek was playing in stock when World War I began. He joined the Princess Pats in Toronto. Meek went to New York then and made his Broadway debut in the Cohan & Harris musi¬ cal, Going Up. Next he starred in The Plot¬ ters, then Broken Dishes and Alter Tomorrow, in which Bette Davis played her first New York stage role as his daughter. When in 1933 Meek appeared in Of Thee I Sing as the insignificant Mr. Throttlebottom, he proved irresistible for Hollywood. He was called to enact a somewhat similar part in the film version of Oh, Promise Me. He was a triumph as the villainous attorney in Young Mr. Lincoln, and he excelled in The Intormer, You Can't Take it With You, and in the famous Nick Carter stories. LIFELINES Born, Donald Meek, July 14, in Glasgow, Scotland, son of Mathew and Annie Meek; Educated in Glasgow schools and by pri¬ vate tutors; Married to Belle Walker in Boston, 1909; Height, 5 feet. 4 Vz inches; Weight. 132 pounds; Hair, light brown; Eyes, gray; Occupations, acrobat, actor. Plays: Stock for 22 years; Broken Dishes, 1926; The Plotters, 1924; The Hottentot, 1931; Of Thee I Sing, 1933, many others. Pictures: Hole In the Wall, 1929; S. S. Van Dine series, 1932-33; Love, Honor, and Oh, Baby, College Coach, 1933; Hi, Nellie, Bedside, Mrs. Wiggs, Murder At the Vani¬ ties, Merry Widow, Last Gentleman, 1934; Whole Town's Talking, Informer, Village Tale, Return of Peter Grimm, Old Man Rhythm, Gilded Lady, Accent On Youth, Bride Comes Home, Society Doctor, Mark of the Vampire, Baby-Face Harrington, Kind Lady, Barbary Coast, She Couldn't Take It, Captain Blood, 1935; Everybody's Old Man, And So They Were Married, Pennies from Heaven, Captain Hates the Sea, One Rainy Afternoon, Three Wise Guys, Old Hutch, Love On the Run, Three Married Men, Two In a Crowd, 1936; Maid of Salem, Artists and Models, Parnell, Three Legionnaires, Behind the Headlines, Toast of New York, Make a Wish, Breakfast for Two, You're a Sweetheart, 1937; Double Danger, Hav¬ ing a Wonderful Time, Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Goodbye, Broadway, Little Miss Broadway, Hold That Co-Ed, You Can’t Take It With You, 1938; Jesse James, Young Mr. Lincoln, Hollywood Cavalcade, Stage¬ coach, Blondie Takes a Vacation, House¬ keeper's Daughter, Nick Carter, Master Detective, 1939; My Little Chickadee, Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet, Turnabout, Man from Dakota, Ghost Comes Home, Phantom Raiders, Sky Murder, Third Finger, Left Hand, Hullabaloo, Star Dust, Return of Frank James, 1940; Come Live With Me, Wild Man of Borneo, Barnacle Bill, Blonde Inspiration, A Woman's Face, Design for Scandal, Babes On Broadway, 1941; Tor¬ tilla Flat, Maisie Gets Her Man, Omaha Trail, 1942; Keeper of the Flame, Du Barry Was a Lady, Air Raid Wardens, Lost Angel, They Got Me Covered, Rationing, 1943; The Honest Thief, 1944.