Harry Shannon
Acting
Born June 12, 1890 · 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.
Films (122)
The World of Tomorrow
1984
Gypsy
1962
Summer and Smoke
1961
Wild in the Country
1961
Yellowstone Kelly
1959
The Buccaneer
1958
Man or Gun
1958
Touch of Evil
1958
The Lonely Man
1957
Hell's Crossroads
1957
Duel at Apache Wells
1957
The Peacemaker
1956
Written on the Wind
1956
Come Next Spring
1956
At Gunpoint
1955
The Marauders
1955
The Tall Men
1955
The Violent Men
1955
Executive Suite
1954
Witness to Murder
1954
Rails Into Laramie
1954
Phantom Stallion
1954
Jack Slade
1953
Roar of the Crowd
1953
Cry of the Hunted
1953
Kansas Pacific
1953
Lure of the Wilderness
1952
Flesh and Fury
1952
High Noon
1952
The Scarf
1951
The Lemon Drop Kid
1951
Blue Blood
1951
Pride of Maryland
1951
Al Jennings of Oklahoma
1951
Hunt the Man Down
1950
The Flying Missile
1950
The Sound of Fury
1950
Where Danger Lives
1950
The Killer That Stalked New York
1950
The Underworld Story
1950
Three Little Words
1950
The Gunfighter
1950
Curtain Call at Cactus Creek
1950
Cow Town
1950
The Jackie Robinson Story
1950
Singing Guns
1950
Tarnished
1950
Mary Ryan, Detective
1949
Mr. Soft Touch
1949
Tulsa
1949
Champion
1949
Rustlers
1949
Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin'
1948
Big Town Scandal
1948
Fighting Father Dunne
1948
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
1948
My Girl Tisa
1948
The Lady from Shanghai
1947
Dangerous Years
1947
The Invisible Wall
1947
Exposed
1947
Time Out of Mind
1947
The Farmer's Daughter
1947
Nora Prentiss
1947
The Devil Thumbs a Ride
1947
The Red House
1947
San Quentin
1946
Crack-Up
1946
The Last Crooked Mile
1946
Canyon Passage
1946
Night Editor
1946
I Ring Doorbells
1946
Pride of the Marines
1945
Captain Eddie
1945
Crime, Inc.
1945
When the Lights Go On Again
1944
The Mummy's Ghost
1944
The Yellow Rose of Texas
1944
True to Life
1943
In Old Oklahoma
1943
Headin' for God's Country
1943
Someone to Remember
1943
Alaska Highway
1943
Song of Texas
1943
Idaho
1943
The Powers Girl
1943
Once Upon a Honeymoon
1942
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
1942
The Big Street
1942
In Old California
1942
The Falcon Takes Over
1942
The Mad Martindales
1942
This Gun for Hire
1942
The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine
1942
The Lady Is Willing
1942
Hold Back the Dawn
1941
Citizen Kane
1941
The Saint In Palm Springs
1941
Tugboat Annie Sails Again
1940
Too Many Girls
1940
One Crowded Night
1940
The Girl from Avenue A
1940
Sailor's Lady
1940
Gambling on the High Seas
1940
Tear Gas Squad
1940
Young Tom Edison
1940
Parole Fixer
1940
City of Chance
1940
The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair
1939
Alibi Mark
1937
Shake, Mr. Shakespeare
1936
A Peach of a Pair
1934
Smoked Hams
1934
No More West
1934
Take a Chance
1933
Close Relations
1933
20,000 Cheers for the Chain Gang
1933
Wrongorilla
1933
The Campus Mystery
1932
Heads Up
1930
Faint Heart
1929
Sympathy
1929