Harry Shannon
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.
148 acting credits
Acting · 148
Lassie
1954
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957
The Virginian
1962
Cheyenne
1955
The Untouchables
1959
Rawhide
1959
Gunsmoke
1955
Bat Masterson
1958
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
Sugarfoot
1957
The Real McCoys
1957
The Texan
1958
The Ford Television Theatre
1952
The Millionaire
1955
Navy Log
1955
Cavalcade of America
1952
Lock-Up
1959
State Trooper
1956
Citizen Kane
1941
The Thin Man
1957
26 Men
1957
The Dakotas
1963
Wire Service
1956
Letter to Loretta
1953
Angel
1960
The Man Behind the Badge
1953
High Noon
1952
Touch of Evil
1958
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
Gypsy
1962
The Violent Men
1955
The Lady from Shanghai
1947
The Tall Men
1955
Written on the Wind
1956
Tulsa
1949
The Gunfighter
1950
Champion
1949
Canyon Passage
1946
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
1948
Yellowstone Kelly
1959
This Gun for Hire
1942
Mr. Soft Touch
1949
The Buccaneer
1958
The Falcon Takes Over
1942
Executive Suite
1954
The Red House
1947
Nora Prentiss
1947
Wild in the Country
1961
Tear Gas Squad
1940
The Farmer's Daughter
1947
The Killer That Stalked New York
1950
The Big Street
1942
Al Jennings of Oklahoma
1951
Three Little Words
1950
The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine
1942
In Old Oklahoma
1943
Crime, Inc.
1945
Night Editor
1946
The Lemon Drop Kid
1951
Crack-Up
1946
Idaho
1943
Where Danger Lives
1950
The Jackie Robinson Story
1950
Pride of the Marines
1945
The Mummy's Ghost
1944
Singing Guns
1950
Rails Into Laramie
1954
Song of Texas
1943
The Lonely Man
1957
Hold Back the Dawn
1941
Hunt the Man Down
1950
Young Tom Edison
1940
My Girl Tisa
1948
The Yellow Rose of Texas
1944
Kansas Pacific
1953
Once Upon a Honeymoon
1942
Parole Fixer
1940
At Gunpoint
1955
The Sound of Fury
1950
In Old California
1942
The Lady Is Willing
1942
Summer and Smoke
1961
The Peacemaker
1956
Too Many Girls
1940
Alaska Highway
1943
Fighting Father Dunne
1948
The Underworld Story
1950
Sailor's Lady
1940
Dangerous Years
1947
The Devil Thumbs a Ride
1947
Flesh and Fury
1952
Blue Blood
1951
Man or Gun
1958
Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin'
1948
The Scarf
1951
Phantom Stallion
1954
The Mad Martindales
1942
True to Life
1943
Gambling on the High Seas
1940
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
1942
Close Relations
1933
Tugboat Annie Sails Again
1940
Witness to Murder
1954
The Powers Girl
1943
One Crowded Night
1940
Alibi Mark
1937
Heads Up
1930
The Last Crooked Mile
1946
The Saint In Palm Springs
1941
I Ring Doorbells
1946
Big Town Scandal
1948
Time Out of Mind
1947
The Flying Missile
1950
Wrongorilla
1933
Captain Eddie
1945
Curtain Call at Cactus Creek
1950
Tarnished
1950
The Invisible Wall
1947
Rustlers
1949
Come Next Spring
1956
The World of Tomorrow
1984
Hell's Crossroads
1957
Jack Slade
1953
Lure of the Wilderness
1952
Duel at Apache Wells
1957
Exposed
1947
When the Lights Go On Again
1944
Cry of the Hunted
1953
Headin' for God's Country
1943
Shake, Mr. Shakespeare
1936
The Marauders
1955
Pride of Maryland
1951
Roar of the Crowd
1953
San Quentin
1946
Mary Ryan, Detective
1949
Someone to Remember
1943
City of Chance
1940
Take a Chance
1933
The Girl from Avenue A
1940
20,000 Cheers for the Chain Gang
1933
A Peach of a Pair
1934
Cow Town
1950
The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair
1939
No More West
1934
The Campus Mystery
1932
Sympathy
1929
Faint Heart
1929
Smoked Hams
1934