Harry Shannon
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Born and raised on a farm in Michigan in 1890, Irish-American character actor Harry Shannon had the credentials for becoming a staple player in westerns. He started off his career traveling around with repertory and stock companies and developed his musical abilities in tent shows, burlesque houses and such tuneful Broadway shows as "Oh, Kay!" (1926), "Hold Everything" (1928), "Simple Simon" (1931), and "Pardon My English" (1933). A company member of Joseph Schildkraut's Hollywood Theater Guild, Shannon broke into films at the advent of sound and started things off in comedy film shorts opposite such celebrated players as Bert Lahr, Shemp Howard, and Leon Errol. In the 1940s Shannon established himself in feature-length movies and although he remained a minor, second-string player, he proved himself a durable presence in westerns usually remaining on the good side of the law as sheriffs and bucolic dads. In lighthearted entertainment he could be found as a friendly Irish cop or bartender. He made a slight but memorable impression as Kane's alcoholic father in the classic Citizen Kane (1941), while his last role would be as the grandfather in the musical Gypsy (1962). In between were small parts in such notable films as The Fighting Sullivans (1944), The Jolson Story (1946), High Noon (1952), Touch of Evil (1958), and The Buccaneer (1958). 1950s TV westerns such as Cheyenne (1955), Have Gun - Will Travel (1957), Rawhide (1959), and Gunsmoke (1955) made consistent use of his rustic demeanor. Shannon died in 1964 at age 74.
Known for
Credits
Citizen Kane (1941)
as Jim Kane
High Noon (1952)
as Cooper
Touch of Evil (1958)
as Chief Gould
Exposed (1947)
as Severance
The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
as Cab Driver
Wild in the Country (1961)
as Sam Tyler (uncredited)
Gypsy (1962)
as Grandpa
The Tall Men (1955)
as Sam
In Old Oklahoma (1943)
as Charlie Witherspoon
The Red House (1947)
as Dr. Jonathan Byrne
Written on the Wind (1956)
as Hoak Wayne
This Gun for Hire (1942)
as Steve Finnerty
Yellowstone Kelly (1959)
as Captain of the Far West (uncredited)
The Gunfighter (1950)
as Chuck (uncredited)
Young Tom Edison (1940)
as Army Captain Brackett
Al Jennings of Oklahoma (1951)
as Fred Salter
Cry of the Hunted (1953)
as Sheriff Brown
The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)
as Charlie
Tarnished (1950)
as Kelsey Bunker
Mr. Soft Touch (1949)
as Police Sergeant Garrett
The Violent Men (1955)
as Purdue
Champion (1949)
as Lew
Summer and Smoke (1961)
as Dr. Burke (uncredited)
The Buccaneer (1958)
as Tom Carruthers - Captain of the Corinthian
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948)
as Tesander
Man or Gun (1958)
as Justin Corley
Canyon Passage (1946)
as Henry McLane (uncredited)
The Lonely Man (1957)
as Dr. Fisher
The Lady Is Willing (1942)
as Barnes
Hold Back the Dawn (1941)
as American Immigration Official (uncredited)
In Old California (1942)
as Mr. Carlin
My Girl Tisa (1948)
Actor
Flesh and Fury (1952)
as Mike Callan
Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942)
as Ed Cumberland
The Farmer's Daughter (1947)
as Mr. Holstrom
Executive Suite (1954)
as Ed Benedeck
The Mummy's Ghost (1944)
as Sheriff Elwood
Pride of Maryland (1951)
as Walter Shannon
The Killer That Stalked New York (1950)
as Police Officer Houlihan
Gambling on the High Seas (1940)
as Ed, Chief of Police
Witness to Murder (1954)
as Captain Donnelly
The Big Street (1942)
as Florida Doctor (uncredited)
Where Danger Lives (1950)
as Dr. Maynard
Time Out of Mind (1947)
as Capt. Rogers
Nora Prentiss (1947)
as Police Lieutenant
The Powers Girl (1943)
as Mr. Hendricks
Wrongorilla (1933)
as Grogan
Three Little Words (1950)
as Clanahan
Pride of the Marines (1945)
as Uncle Ralph
Take a Chance (1933)
as Bartender
The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)
as John (Policeman)
The Sound of Fury (1950)
as Mr. Yaeger
Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin' (1948)
as Chauncey
At Gunpoint (1955)
as Marshal Pete MacKay
The Devil Thumbs a Ride (1947)
as Detective Owens, San Diego Police
The Falcon Takes Over (1942)
as Detective Grimes (Uncredited)
Crime, Inc. (1945)
as Police Commissioner Collins
The Underworld Story (1950)
as George Parker
The Last Crooked Mile (1946)
as Police Lieutenant Blake
Hunt the Man Down (1950)
as Wallace Bennett
The Yellow Rose of Texas (1944)
as Sam Weston
Crack-Up (1946)
as Cop (Uncredited)
The Mad Martindales (1942)
as Policeman
Someone to Remember (1943)
as Tom Gibbons
Roar of the Crowd (1953)
as Sam 'Pop' Tracy
The Scarf (1951)
as Asylum Warden Anderson
Kansas Pacific (1953)
as Smokestack the Train Engineer
The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine (1942)
as Pinky Dolan
Rails Into Laramie (1954)
as Judge Pierce
Faint Heart (1929)
as Dynamite Dan
Too Many Girls (1940)
as Mr. Casey
The Marauders (1955)
as John Rutherford
Tulsa (1949)
as Nelse Lansing
Curtain Call at Cactus Creek (1950)
as Clay
The Saint In Palm Springs (1941)
as Chief R.L. Graves
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1942)
as Mr. Tim Wiggs
Hell's Crossroads (1957)
as Clay Ford
Headin' for God's Country (1943)
as Albert Ness
No More West (1934)
as Bank Robber
Singing Guns (1950)
as Judge Waller
Sympathy (1929)
as Larry
The Flying Missile (1950)
as Vice Admiral Williams
Duel at Apache Wells (1957)
as Wayne Shattuck
Jack Slade (1953)
as Tom Carter
Lure of the Wilderness (1952)
as Pat McGowan
Captain Eddie (1945)
as Simmons
Dangerous Years (1947)
as Judge Raymond
The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair (1939)
as Father
City of Chance (1940)
as Passline
Come Next Spring (1956)
as Mr. Totter
Night Editor (1946)
as Capt. Lawrence
San Quentin (1946)
as Warden Kelly
The Invisible Wall (1947)
as Det. Capt. R.W. Davis
Cow Town (1950)
as Sandy Reeves
Tugboat Annie Sails Again (1940)
as Capt. Mahoney
The World of Tomorrow (1984)
as Pop Middleton (archive footage)
Alibi Mark (1937)
as Railroad Detective
A Peach of a Pair (1934)
Actor
The Peacemaker (1956)
as Drunken Cowpuncher
When the Lights Go On Again (1944)
as Tom Cary
True to Life (1943)
as Mr. Mason
Sailor's Lady (1940)
as Father McGann
Heads Up (1930)
as Capt. Denny
Parole Fixer (1940)
as Randall
Song of Texas (1943)
as Sam Bennett
Mary Ryan, Detective (1949)
as Sawyer
Idaho (1943)
as Judge John Grey
Alaska Highway (1943)
as John 'Pop' Ormsby
Phantom Stallion (1954)
as Michael Reilly
Fighting Father Dunne (1948)
as Thomas Lee
Rustlers (1949)
as Sheriff Harmon
Close Relations (1933)
as Harry Wart
The Girl from Avenue A (1940)
as Timson
Tear Gas Squad (1940)
as Lieutenant Sullivan
20,000 Cheers for the Chain Gang (1933)
Actor
Big Town Scandal (1948)
as Police Captain Henry (uncredited)
Blue Blood (1951)
as Mr. Buchanan
One Crowded Night (1940)
as McDermott
Smoked Hams (1934)
as The Landlord
Shake, Mr. Shakespeare (1936)
as Macbeth
I Ring Doorbells (1946)
as Shannon
The Campus Mystery (1932)
as Police Sergeant