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
The Gunfighter (1950)
as Chuck (uncredited)
The Lady from Shanghai (1947)
as Cab Driver
The Red House (1947)
as Dr. Jonathan Byrne
The Buccaneer (1958)
as Tom Carruthers - Captain of the Corinthian
Written on the Wind (1956)
as Hoak Wayne
The Tall Men (1955)
as Sam
Gypsy (1962)
as Grandpa
Wild in the Country (1961)
as Sam Tyler (uncredited)
Tulsa (1949)
as Nelse Lansing
The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)
as Charlie
The Violent Men (1955)
as Purdue
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948)
as Tesander
Yellowstone Kelly (1959)
as Captain of the Far West (uncredited)
Crime, Inc. (1945)
as Police Commissioner Collins
Young Tom Edison (1940)
as Army Captain Brackett
Crack-Up (1946)
as Cop (Uncredited)
Champion (1949)
as Lew
Canyon Passage (1946)
as Henry McLane (uncredited)
Alibi Mark (1937)
as Railroad Detective
The Big Street (1942)
as Florida Doctor (uncredited)
In Old Oklahoma (1943)
as Charlie Witherspoon
The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)
as John (Policeman)
This Gun for Hire (1942)
as Steve Finnerty
Idaho (1943)
as Judge John Grey
Executive Suite (1954)
as Ed Benedeck
Mr. Soft Touch (1949)
as Police Sergeant Garrett
Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942)
as Ed Cumberland
Witness to Murder (1954)
as Captain Donnelly
Summer and Smoke (1961)
as Dr. Burke (uncredited)
Nora Prentiss (1947)
as Police Lieutenant
The Falcon Takes Over (1942)
as Detective Grimes (Uncredited)
Exposed (1947)
as Severance
The Lonely Man (1957)
as Dr. Fisher
The Mummy's Ghost (1944)
as Sheriff Elwood
The Lady Is Willing (1942)
as Barnes
Hold Back the Dawn (1941)
as American Immigration Official (uncredited)
Singing Guns (1950)
as Judge Waller
Kansas Pacific (1953)
as Smokestack the Train Engineer
Al Jennings of Oklahoma (1951)
as Fred Salter
The Underworld Story (1950)
as George Parker
Three Little Words (1950)
as Clanahan
Headin' for God's Country (1943)
as Albert Ness
Rails Into Laramie (1954)
as Judge Pierce
Night Editor (1946)
as Capt. Lawrence
In Old California (1942)
as Mr. Carlin
The Farmer's Daughter (1947)
as Mr. Holstrom
The Killer That Stalked New York (1950)
as Police Officer Houlihan
The Saint In Palm Springs (1941)
as Chief R.L. Graves
City of Chance (1940)
as Passline
Gambling on the High Seas (1940)
as Ed, Chief of Police
Tarnished (1950)
as Kelsey Bunker
The Scarf (1951)
as Asylum Warden Anderson
The Flying Missile (1950)
as Vice Admiral Williams
Hunt the Man Down (1950)
as Wallace Bennett
Where Danger Lives (1950)
as Dr. Maynard
My Girl Tisa (1948)
Actor
The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine (1942)
as Pinky Dolan
True to Life (1943)
as Mr. Mason
Fighting Father Dunne (1948)
as Thomas Lee
Dangerous Years (1947)
as Judge Raymond
Flesh and Fury (1952)
as Mike Callan
At Gunpoint (1955)
as Marshal Pete MacKay
Parole Fixer (1940)
as Randall
Too Many Girls (1940)
as Mr. Casey
Man or Gun (1958)
as Justin Corley
Rustlers (1949)
as Sheriff Harmon
Pride of the Marines (1945)
as Uncle Ralph
The Powers Girl (1943)
as Mr. Hendricks
The Marauders (1955)
as John Rutherford
San Quentin (1946)
as Warden Kelly
Duel at Apache Wells (1957)
as Wayne Shattuck
Cry of the Hunted (1953)
as Sheriff Brown
Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin' (1948)
as Chauncey
Jack Slade (1953)
as Tom Carter
Hell's Crossroads (1957)
as Clay Ford
Captain Eddie (1945)
as Simmons
Time Out of Mind (1947)
as Capt. Rogers
No More West (1934)
as Bank Robber
Wrongorilla (1933)
as Grogan
The Invisible Wall (1947)
as Det. Capt. R.W. Davis
The Devil Thumbs a Ride (1947)
as Detective Owens, San Diego Police
Mary Ryan, Detective (1949)
as Sawyer
Tear Gas Squad (1940)
as Lieutenant Sullivan
The Yellow Rose of Texas (1944)
as Sam Weston
The Peacemaker (1956)
as Drunken Cowpuncher
Song of Texas (1943)
as Sam Bennett
The Sound of Fury (1950)
as Mr. Yaeger
Curtain Call at Cactus Creek (1950)
as Clay
Sailor's Lady (1940)
as Father McGann
Alaska Highway (1943)
as John 'Pop' Ormsby
Smoked Hams (1934)
as The Landlord
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1942)
as Mr. Tim Wiggs
Lure of the Wilderness (1952)
as Pat McGowan
The Mad Martindales (1942)
as Policeman
Pride of Maryland (1951)
as Walter Shannon
Roar of the Crowd (1953)
as Sam 'Pop' Tracy
A Peach of a Pair (1934)
Actor
Come Next Spring (1956)
as Mr. Totter
Blue Blood (1951)
as Mr. Buchanan
Cow Town (1950)
as Sandy Reeves
Someone to Remember (1943)
as Tom Gibbons
Take a Chance (1933)
as Bartender
Phantom Stallion (1954)
as Michael Reilly
Sympathy (1929)
as Larry
Heads Up (1930)
as Capt. Denny
Tugboat Annie Sails Again (1940)
as Capt. Mahoney
The Girl from Avenue A (1940)
as Timson
When the Lights Go On Again (1944)
as Tom Cary
The Last Crooked Mile (1946)
as Police Lieutenant Blake
I Ring Doorbells (1946)
as Shannon
One Crowded Night (1940)
as McDermott
Big Town Scandal (1948)
as Police Captain Henry (uncredited)
The World of Tomorrow (1984)
as Pop Middleton (archive footage)
The Campus Mystery (1932)
as Police Sergeant
The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair (1939)
as Father
Faint Heart (1929)
as Dynamite Dan
Shake, Mr. Shakespeare (1936)
as Macbeth
Close Relations (1933)
as Harry Wart
20,000 Cheers for the Chain Gang (1933)
Actor