
Harry Shannon
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.
Notable Appearances
Movies

Touch of Evil

Citizen Kane

High Noon

Written on the Wind

The Lady from Shanghai

This Gun for Hire

Wild in the Country

Mary Ryan, Detective

The Tall Men

In Old Oklahoma

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

The Farmer's Daughter

The Gunfighter

Gypsy

Executive Suite

The Lemon Drop Kid

Al Jennings of Oklahoma

The Buccaneer

Once Upon a Honeymoon

Canyon Passage

The Lady Is Willing

Summer and Smoke
TV Shows
More Movies

Hold Back the Dawn

Yellowstone Kelly

The Lonely Man

The Violent Men

The Jackie Robinson Story

The Killer That Stalked New York

The Mummy's Ghost

Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin'

Hunt the Man Down

The Falcon Takes Over

Time Out of Mind

The Sound of Fury

Young Tom Edison

Tulsa

The Devil Thumbs a Ride

The Big Street

Cry of the Hunted

The Red House

Champion

Mr. Soft Touch

Three Little Words

Tear Gas Squad

Curtain Call at Cactus Creek

The Last Crooked Mile

Exposed

The Flying Missile

Pride of the Marines

Duel at Apache Wells

In Old California

Gambling on the High Seas

Faint Heart

Kansas Pacific

The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine

Lure of the Wilderness

Nora Prentiss

Roar of the Crowd

Too Many Girls

Tugboat Annie Sails Again

Singing Guns

True to Life

Where Danger Lives

The Saint In Palm Springs

The Underworld Story

Flesh and Fury

Tarnished

The Yellow Rose of Texas

At Gunpoint

Witness to Murder

Crime, Inc.

The Marauders

Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch

Rails Into Laramie

Headin' for God's Country

When the Lights Go On Again

The Girl from Avenue A

My Girl Tisa

Crack-Up

Sailor's Lady

The Powers Girl

The World of Tomorrow

Sympathy

Night Editor

The Scarf

The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair

San Quentin

A Peach of a Pair

Hell's Crossroads

Come Next Spring

The Invisible Wall

Man or Gun

Someone to Remember

Idaho

The Peacemaker

City of Chance

Parole Fixer

Captain Eddie

Pride of Maryland

Big Town Scandal

Fighting Father Dunne

Dangerous Years

Alaska Highway

Alibi Mark

20,000 Cheers for the Chain Gang

Jack Slade

The Mad Martindales

Song of Texas

No More West

Phantom Stallion

One Crowded Night

Blue Blood

Rustlers

Smoked Hams

Close Relations

I Ring Doorbells

Cow Town

Heads Up


























