Harry Shannon
Actor
Born June 12, 1890 in 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
Pop Middleton (archive footage)
The Dakotas
Gypsy
Grandpa
The Virginian
Uncle Josh
Summer and Smoke
Dr. Burke (uncredited)
Wild in the Country
Sam Tyler (uncredited)
Angel
Yellowstone Kelly
Captain of the Far West (uncredited)
The Untouchables
Michael Shaw
Lock-Up
Rawhide
Claggert
The Buccaneer
Tom Carruthers - Captain of the Corinthian
Bat Masterson
Jobe Crail
The Texan
Jayson Howell
Man or Gun
Justin Corley
Touch of Evil
Chief Gould
26 Men
The Real McCoys
The Thin Man
Sugarfoot
Henry Shipman
Have Gun, Will Travel
Jesse
The Lonely Man
Dr. Fisher
Hell's Crossroads
Clay Ford
Duel at Apache Wells
Wayne Shattuck
The Peacemaker
Drunken Cowpuncher
Written on the Wind
Hoak Wayne
Wire Service
Harris Ellerby
Come Next Spring
Mr. Totter
At Gunpoint
Marshal Pete MacKay
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Dr. Harner
The Marauders
John Rutherford
The Tall Men
Sam
Cheyenne
Navy Log
Gunsmoke
Bowers
The Violent Men
Purdue
The Millionaire
Judge William Jennings Westholme
Lassie
Executive Suite
Ed Benedeck
Witness to Murder
Captain Donnelly
Rails Into Laramie
Judge Pierce
Phantom Stallion
Michael Reilly
Jack Slade
Tom Carter
The Man Behind the Badge
Letter to Loretta
Tom
Roar of the Crowd
Sam 'Pop' Tracy
Cry of the Hunted
Sheriff Brown
Kansas Pacific
Smokestack the Train Engineer
The Ford Television Theatre
Judge Varney
Cavalcade of America
Lure of the Wilderness
Pat McGowan
Flesh and Fury
Mike Callan
High Noon
Cooper
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Big Jim Heywood
The Scarf
Asylum Warden Anderson
The Lemon Drop Kid
John (Policeman)
Blue Blood
Mr. Buchanan
Pride of Maryland
Walter Shannon
Al Jennings of Oklahoma
Fred Salter
Hunt the Man Down
Wallace Bennett
The Flying Missile
Vice Admiral Williams
The Sound of Fury
Mr. Yaeger
Where Danger Lives
Dr. Maynard
The Killer That Stalked New York
Police Officer Houlihan
The Underworld Story
George Parker
Three Little Words
Clanahan
The Gunfighter
Chuck (uncredited)
Curtain Call at Cactus Creek
Clay
Cow Town
Sandy Reeves
The Jackie Robinson Story
Charlie
Singing Guns
Judge Waller
Tarnished
Kelsey Bunker
Mary Ryan, Detective
Sawyer
Mr. Soft Touch
Police Sergeant Garrett
Tulsa
Nelse Lansing
Champion
Lew
Rustlers
Sheriff Harmon
Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin'
Chauncey
Big Town Scandal
Police Captain Henry (uncredited)
Fighting Father Dunne
Thomas Lee
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
Tesander
My Girl Tisa
The Lady from Shanghai
Cab Driver
Dangerous Years
Judge Raymond
The Invisible Wall
Det. Capt. R.W. Davis
Exposed
Severance
Time Out of Mind
Capt. Rogers
The Farmer's Daughter
Mr. Holstrom
Nora Prentiss
Police Lieutenant
The Devil Thumbs a Ride
Detective Owens, San Diego Police
The Red House
Dr. Jonathan Byrne
San Quentin
Warden Kelly
Crack-Up
Cop (Uncredited)
The Last Crooked Mile
Police Lieutenant Blake
Canyon Passage
Henry McLane (uncredited)
Night Editor
Capt. Lawrence
I Ring Doorbells
Shannon
Pride of the Marines
Uncle Ralph
Captain Eddie
Simmons
Crime, Inc.
Police Commissioner Collins
When the Lights Go On Again
Tom Cary
The Mummy's Ghost
Sheriff Elwood
The Yellow Rose of Texas
Sam Weston
True to Life
Mr. Mason
In Old Oklahoma
Charlie Witherspoon
Headin' for God's Country
Albert Ness
Someone to Remember
Tom Gibbons
Alaska Highway
John 'Pop' Ormsby
Song of Texas
Sam Bennett
Idaho
Judge John Grey
The Powers Girl
Mr. Hendricks
Once Upon a Honeymoon
Ed Cumberland
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
Mr. Tim Wiggs
The Big Street
Florida Doctor (uncredited)
In Old California
Mr. Carlin
The Falcon Takes Over
Detective Grimes (Uncredited)
The Mad Martindales
Policeman
This Gun for Hire
Steve Finnerty
The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine
Pinky Dolan
The Lady Is Willing
Barnes
Hold Back the Dawn
American Immigration Official (uncredited)
Citizen Kane
Jim Kane
The Saint In Palm Springs
Chief R.L. Graves
Tugboat Annie Sails Again
Capt. Mahoney
Too Many Girls
Mr. Casey
One Crowded Night
McDermott
The Girl from Avenue A
Timson
Sailor's Lady
Father McGann
Gambling on the High Seas
Ed, Chief of Police
Tear Gas Squad
Lieutenant Sullivan
Young Tom Edison
Army Captain Brackett
Parole Fixer
Randall
City of Chance
Passline
The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair
Father
Alibi Mark
Railroad Detective
Shake, Mr. Shakespeare
Macbeth
A Peach of a Pair
Smoked Hams
The Landlord
No More West
Bank Robber
Close Relations
Harry Wart
Heads Up
Capt. Denny
Faint Heart
Dynamite Dan
Sympathy
Larry