Thomas Meighan (April 9, 1879 – July 8, 1936) was an American actor of silent films and early talkies.

He played several leading-man roles opposite popular actresses of the day, including Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson.

[2] After dropping out of college in 1896, Meighan became a juvenile player in the Pittsburgh Stock Company headed by Henrietta Crosman.

[2] In 1918, he made a propaganda film for World War I, titled Norma Talmadge and Thomas Meighan in a Liberty Loan Appeal.

One of his better-known films of the period was that year's The Miracle Man, which featured Lon Chaney Sr.;[2] it is now believed to be lost except for brief clips.

[2] In April 1925, Meighan and Swanson produced a short film directed by Allan Dwan for the annual "Spring Gambol" for The Lambs.

His final silents, both produced by Howard Hughes in 1928, were The Mating Call, which was critical of the Ku Klux Klan, and The Racket, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.

Both were thought lost until rediscovered in private collections in 2006; they were restored by University of Nevada, Las Vegas and shown on Turner Classic Movies.

[1][2] Meighan met Frances Ring (July 4, 1882 – January 15, 1951)[5] when she was a stage actress on Broadway and he was appearing there.

[2] Meighan was involved in some of the more scandalous moments of silent film history, albeit as a helping hand.

He was the sole witness to Jack Pickford and Olive Thomas's secretive wedding in New Jersey on October 25, 1916.

[7] In March 1923, Douglas Gerrard, in need of help bailing his friend Rudolph Valentino out of jail for bigamy, called a fellow Irishman named Dan O'Brien who happened to be with Meighan at the time.

[11] After resting there for almost a year, his remains were moved to a family plot at Saint Mary Cemetery in Meighan's hometown of Pittsburgh.

[12] Meighan was a large donor to various Catholic charities and the Federation for the Support of Jewish Philanthropic Societies.