Harry Shannon
Acting
1890-06-12 · Saginaw, Michigan, USA
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.
Filmography
The World of Tomorrow
1984 · Movie
The Dakotas
1963 · Series
Gypsy
1962 · Movie
The Virginian
1962 · Series
Summer and Smoke
1961 · Movie
Wild in the Country
1961 · Movie
Angel
1960 · Series
Yellowstone Kelly
1959 · Movie
The Untouchables
1959 · Series
Lock-Up
1959 · Series
Rawhide
1959 · Series
The Buccaneer
1958 · Movie
Bat Masterson
1958 · Series
The Texan
1958 · Series
Man or Gun
1958 · Movie
Touch of Evil
1958 · Movie
26 Men
1957 · Series
The Real McCoys
1957 · Series
The Thin Man
1957 · Series
Sugarfoot
1957 · Series
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957 · Series
The Lonely Man
1957 · Movie
Hell's Crossroads
1957 · Movie
Duel at Apache Wells
1957 · Movie
The Peacemaker
1956 · Movie
Wire Service
1956 · Series
Written on the Wind
1956 · Movie
State Trooper
1956 · Series
Come Next Spring
1956 · Movie
At Gunpoint
1955 · Movie
Crossroads
1955 · Series
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955 · Series
The Marauders
1955 · Movie
The Tall Men
1955 · Movie
Cheyenne
1955 · Series
Navy Log
1955 · Series
Gunsmoke
1955 · Series
The Violent Men
1955 · Movie
The Millionaire
1955 · Series
Lassie
1954 · Series
Executive Suite
1954 · Movie
Witness to Murder
1954 · Movie
Rails Into Laramie
1954 · Movie
Phantom Stallion
1954 · Movie
Jack Slade
1953 · Movie
The Man Behind the Badge
1953 · Series
Letter to Loretta
1953 · Series
Roar of the Crowd
1953 · Movie
Cry of the Hunted
1953 · Movie
Kansas Pacific
1953 · Movie
The Ford Television Theatre
1952 · Series
Cavalcade of America
1952 · Series
Lure of the Wilderness
1952 · Movie
Flesh and Fury
1952 · Movie
High Noon
1952 · Movie
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951 · Series
The Scarf
1951 · Movie
The Lemon Drop Kid
1951 · Movie
Blue Blood
1951 · Movie
Pride of Maryland
1951 · Movie
Al Jennings of Oklahoma
1951 · Movie
Hunt the Man Down
1950 · Movie
The Flying Missile
1950 · Movie
The Sound of Fury
1950 · Movie
Where Danger Lives
1950 · Movie
The Killer That Stalked New York
1950 · Movie
The Underworld Story
1950 · Movie
Three Little Words
1950 · Movie
The Gunfighter
1950 · Movie
Curtain Call at Cactus Creek
1950 · Movie
Cow Town
1950 · Movie
The Jackie Robinson Story
1950 · Movie
Tarnished
1950 · Movie
Singing Guns
1950 · Movie
Mary Ryan, Detective
1949 · Movie
Mr. Soft Touch
1949 · Movie
Tulsa
1949 · Movie
Champion
1949 · Movie
Rustlers
1949 · Movie
Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin'
1948 · Movie
Big Town Scandal
1948 · Movie
Fighting Father Dunne
1948 · Movie
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
1948 · Movie
My Girl Tisa
1948 · Movie
The Lady from Shanghai
1947 · Movie
Dangerous Years
1947 · Movie
The Invisible Wall
1947 · Movie
Exposed
1947 · Movie
Time Out of Mind
1947 · Movie
The Farmer's Daughter
1947 · Movie
Nora Prentiss
1947 · Movie
The Devil Thumbs a Ride
1947 · Movie
The Red House
1947 · Movie
San Quentin
1946 · Movie
Crack-Up
1946 · Movie
The Last Crooked Mile
1946 · Movie
Canyon Passage
1946 · Movie
Night Editor
1946 · Movie
I Ring Doorbells
1946 · Movie
Pride of the Marines
1945 · Movie
Captain Eddie
1945 · Movie
Crime, Inc.
1945 · Movie
When the Lights Go On Again
1944 · Movie
The Mummy's Ghost
1944 · Movie
The Yellow Rose of Texas
1944 · Movie
True to Life
1943 · Movie
In Old Oklahoma
1943 · Movie
Headin' for God's Country
1943 · Movie
Someone to Remember
1943 · Movie
Alaska Highway
1943 · Movie
Song of Texas
1943 · Movie
Idaho
1943 · Movie
The Powers Girl
1943 · Movie
Once Upon a Honeymoon
1942 · Movie
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
1942 · Movie
The Big Street
1942 · Movie
In Old California
1942 · Movie
The Falcon Takes Over
1942 · Movie
The Mad Martindales
1942 · Movie
This Gun for Hire
1942 · Movie
The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine
1942 · Movie
The Lady Is Willing
1942 · Movie
Hold Back the Dawn
1941 · Movie
Citizen Kane
1941 · Movie
The Saint In Palm Springs
1941 · Movie
Tugboat Annie Sails Again
1940 · Movie
Too Many Girls
1940 · Movie
The Girl from Avenue A
1940 · Movie
One Crowded Night
1940 · Movie
Sailor's Lady
1940 · Movie
Gambling on the High Seas
1940 · Movie
Tear Gas Squad
1940 · Movie
Young Tom Edison
1940 · Movie
Parole Fixer
1940 · Movie
City of Chance
1940 · Movie
The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair
1939 · Movie
Alibi Mark
1937 · Movie
Shake, Mr. Shakespeare
1936 · Movie
A Peach of a Pair
1934 · Movie
Smoked Hams
1934 · Movie
No More West
1934 · Movie
Take a Chance
1933 · Movie
Close Relations
1933 · Movie
20,000 Cheers for the Chain Gang
1933 · Movie
Wrongorilla
1933 · Movie
The Campus Mystery
1932 · Movie
Heads Up
1930 · Movie
Faint Heart
1929 · Movie
Sympathy
1929 · Movie