Harry Shannon
Date of birth: 1890-06-12
Place of birth: Saginaw, Michigan, USA
Known for: Acting
Also known as:
Biography
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.
Movie Credits
Citizen Kane
1941-04-17
Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich
High Noon
1952-06-09
Will Kane, the sheriff of a small town in New Mexico, learns a notorious outlaw he put in jail has b
Touch of Evil
1958-03-30
A border-town bombing draws Mexican investigator Miguel Vargas into a corruption-ridden police inves
My Girl Tisa
1948-02-07
1905 was a period of heavy immigration from Europe to America before laws were passed restricting th
The Lady from Shanghai
1947-12-24
A romantic drifter gets caught between a corrupt tycoon and his voluptuous wife.
Where Danger Lives
1950-11-16
A young doctor falls in love with a disturbed young woman and apparently becomes involved in the dea
The Red House
1947-02-04
An old man and his sister are concealing a terrible secret from their adopted teen daughter, concern
The Lemon Drop Kid
1951-04-02
When the Lemon Drop Kid accidentally cheats gangster Moose Moran out of his track winnings, the Kid
The Killer That Stalked New York
1950-10-06
In New York, Sheila Bennet and her spouse, Matt Krane, are trying to unload a trove of rare jewels t
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
1948-03-25
An advertising executive dreams of getting out of the city and building a perfect home in the countr
Nora Prentiss
1947-02-22
Quiet, organised Dr Talbot meets nightclub singer Nora Prentiss when she is slightly hurt in a stree
Cry of the Hunted
1953-05-08
A prison convict escapes through the Louisiana swamps.
Night Editor
1946-03-29
A daily news editor recalls a married detective and the deadly woman behind his downfall.
A Peach of a Pair
1934-12-29
Vaudeville performers Cook and Butler are mistaken for domestic servants; hilarity ensues.
The Underworld Story
1950-07-26
A blacklisted reporter brings his shady ways to a small-town newspaper after being fired from a big
Crime, Inc.
1945-04-15
A crime reporter writes book to expose names and methods of the criminal leaders. He is held on a ch
The Scarf
1951-04-06
A man who is believed to have murdered a woman, escapes from the insane asylum to find if he was the
The Devil Thumbs a Ride
1947-02-20
Steve Morgan kills a man in a holdup and hitches a ride to Los Angeles with Fergie. At a gas station
The Lonely Man
1957-06-21
Aging gunslinger Jacob Wade hopes to settle down with his estranged son, but his old enemies have ot
The Jackie Robinson Story
1950-05-16
Biography of Jackie Robinson, the first black major league baseball player in the 20th century. Trac
The Farmer's Daughter
1947-03-26
After leaving her family's farm to study nursing in the city, a young woman finds herself on an unex
Witness to Murder
1954-04-15
A woman fights to convince the police that she witnessed a murder while looking out her bedroom wind
City of Chance
1940-01-13
Texas girl goes to New York, becomes a newspaper reporter, and tries to get her gambler boyfriend to
This Gun for Hire
1942-04-24
Sadistic killer-for-hire Philip Raven becomes enraged when his latest job is paid off in marked bill
Hunt the Man Down
1950-12-26
A lawyer uncovers secrets behind a 12-year-old murder case.
The Invisible Wall
1947-10-15
A former GI gets his old job back working for a bookie after returning from serving in the military.
Gypsy
1962-11-01
Gypsy's mother Rose dreams of a life in show business for her daughters, but Louise becomes a huge b
Kansas Pacific
1953-02-22
Just before the Civil War (but after the South has seceded), Southern saboteurs try to prevent railr
Written on the Wind
1956-10-04
Mitch Wayne is a geologist working for the Hadleys, an oil-rich Texas family. While the patriarch, J
Mr. Soft Touch
1949-07-28
When he learns that a gangster has taken over his nightclub and murdered his partner, returning WWII
The Last Crooked Mile
1946-08-09
A mystery grows after a bank robbery car leads investigators to a carnival sideshow.
Yellowstone Kelly
1959-11-11
A fur-trapper named Kelly, who once saved the life of a Sioux chief, is allowed to set his traps in
San Quentin
1946-12-16
An ex-con sets up a program to straighten out hard-core prisoners. Things don't go as planned.
The Saint In Palm Springs
1941-01-24
George Sanders makes his final appearance as crook-turned-detective Simon Templar, a.k.a. "The Saint
Man or Gun
1958-05-30
Gun-slinging drifter "Maybe" Smith's Colt .44 pistol and shooting skills are put to the test shortly
Flesh and Fury
1952-06-26
Deaf boxer Paul Callan captures the interest of gold-digging blonde Sonya Bartow and retired fight m
Tulsa
1949-04-13
It's Tulsa, Oklahoma at the start of the oil boom and Cherokee Lansing's rancher father is killed in
Exposed
1947-09-08
A private eye and her sidekick solve the case of a dead client.
At Gunpoint
1955-12-25
A general-store keeper scares off bank robbers with a lucky shot, but they come back.
Mary Ryan, Detective
1949-11-03
A female police detective enters jail to gain the confidence of a shoplifter and learn the identity
20,000 Cheers for the Chain Gang
1933-08-12
Four convicts escape from a chain gang. Shortly thereafter, changes are made at the prison, because
Alibi Mark
1937-12-25
When an out-of-work Chicagoan travels west as a hobo on a freight train, he finds himself falsely ac
When the Lights Go On Again
1944-10-22
The hometown life of a young soldier suffering from shellshock amnesia is revealed in flashback.
The Yellow Rose of Texas
1944-06-24
Insurance Investigator Roy is looking for Weston and the missing money he supposedly obtained in a r
Song of Texas
1943-06-14
A man of no worth brags to his daughter back East that he is rich and owns a big ranch. When she dec
Singing Guns
1950-02-28
Notorious stagecoach robber Rhiannon is unintentionally appointed as deputy when he saves the sherif
Hell's Crossroads
1957-03-08
An imprisoned gunfighter must scatter to elude the authorities. Outlaws Bob Ford and Vic Rodell are
Smoked Hams
1934-10-20
A vaudeville team convinces an agent to book their new act, which uses a Civil War theme.
Idaho
1943-03-10
A deputy sets out to prove that a respected judge, who had once been a criminal, is being framed for
Duel at Apache Wells
1957-01-25
A young man returns home after several years absence to find that a gang is after not only his famil
The Marauders
1955-09-26
A poor homesteader fights back when he's targeted for extinction by a powerful rancher and his gang
Curtain Call at Cactus Creek
1950-05-25
Traveling entertainer gets mixed up with bank robbers.
Tugboat Annie Sails Again
1940-10-26
Two rival tugboat captains compete for local business.
Rails Into Laramie
1954-04-14
A federal agent arrives in Laramie to try to find out who is behind the efforts to stop the construc
The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine
1942-03-27
A New York radio personality travels to the small town of Fernville to oversee a contest to identify
Jack Slade
1953-11-08
A young boy witnesses his father murdered by bandits and grows into adulthood vowing revenge.
The Flying Missile
1950-12-24
A Navy commander experiments with launching missiles from submarines.
True to Life
1943-12-24
A writer for a radio program needs some fresh ideas to juice up his show. For inspiration, he rents
Lure of the Wilderness
1952-07-16
A young girl and her father, who is unjustly accused of murder, seek refuge in a Georgia swamp until
The Violent Men
1955-01-26
A former Union Army officer plans to sell out to Anchor Ranch and move east with his fiancée, but th
Come Next Spring
1956-03-09
Matt Ballot has returned home after 12 years of hard-drinking in all 48 states. His wife has managed
Al Jennings of Oklahoma
1951-01-17
Film based on the story of Al Jennings, a former train robber turned attorney.
Three Little Words
1950-07-12
Song-and-dance man Bert Kalmar can't continue his stage career after an injury, so he has to earn hi
Wild in the Country
1961-06-15
A troubled young man discovers that he has a knack for writing when a counselor encourages him to pu
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
1942-10-01
In the shanty town called the Cabbage Patch, Mrs. Wiggs scrabbles for survival with her brood of chi
Time Out of Mind
1947-05-03
The son of a wealthy Maine family shocks his relatives by announcing he wants to pursue a career in
Fighting Father Dunne
1948-05-12
A dedicated priest tries to reform a group of homeless boys in turn-of-the-century St. Louis.
Heads Up
1930-10-10
Jack Mason of the Coast Guard Academy meets Mary at the graduation ball and falls in love with her,
The Powers Girl
1943-01-15
Two small-town sisters who've come to New York City for very different reasons find themselves compe
Summer and Smoke
1961-11-16
In a small Mississippi town in 1916, an eccentric spinster battles her romantic yearnings for the ra
Dangerous Years
1947-12-07
Jeff Carter has put an end to the town's delinquency with a boys' club. Young hoodlum Danny shows up
Once Upon a Honeymoon
1942-11-27
A radio correspondent tries to rescue a burlesque queen from her marriage to a Nazi official.
Alaska Highway
1943-06-24
Pop Ormsby wins the contract from the Army Engineer Corps for the construction of the Alaska Highway
Sailor's Lady
1940-07-05
Sailor is going to marry his girlfriend when he returns, but she becomes foster mother to baby whose
The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair
1939-04-30
"An average American family", the Middletons, visit the 1939 World's Fair and witnesses the advent o
I Ring Doorbells
1946-02-28
Set at a major newspaper, this crime drama centers on a fellow who returns to newspaper reporting af
Shake, Mr. Shakespeare
1936-08-21
Comedic short featuring Shakespeare's notable characters; many performing musical numbers. An assist
Phantom Stallion
1954-02-10
Ex-cavalry buddies, Rex and Slim, band together to capture a wild stallion, solve a murder and thwar
Big Town Scandal
1948-05-27
A crusading editor and his star reporter aid underprivileged youths and crack down on racketeers out
Parole Fixer
1940-02-02
This expose of the U.S. parole system, as seen through the eyes of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, tak
The World of Tomorrow
1984-12-31
Documentary featuring original materials from the 1939 New York World's Fair. Includes film images
Young Tom Edison
1940-03-15
Inventor Thomas Edison's boyhood is chronicled and shows him as a lad whose early inventions and sci
Hold Back the Dawn
1941-09-26
Romanian-French gigolo Georges Iscovescu wishes to enter the USA. Stopped in Mexico by the quota sys
Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin'
1948-06-01
A fast-talking salesman is "kidnapped" by a town, which intends to use him in its annual race with a
The Gunfighter
1950-05-26
The fastest gun in the West tries to escape his reputation.
Rustlers
1949-03-03
A group of Arizona ranchers, trying to learn the identities of the Salt River Gang and prevent any f
In Old California
1942-05-31
Boston pharmacist Tom Craig comes to Sacramento, where he runs afoul of local political boss Britt D
Too Many Girls
1940-10-08
Mr. Casey's daughter, Connie, wants to go to Pottawatomie College and without her knowledge, he send
Champion
1949-04-09
An unscrupulous boxer fights his way to the top, but eventually alienates all of the people who help
Wrongorilla
1933-03-04
Jack Haley joins the circus.
Someone to Remember
1943-08-21
An elderly woman whose son disappeared years before refuses to move when her apartment building is t
Cow Town
1950-05-19
Gene responds to cattle rustling by stringing barbed wire all around his range.
Take a Chance
1933-11-25
Take a Chance was based on the hit Broadway musical of the same name, though only one of the origina
Sympathy
1929-08-29
Hobart Cavanaugh & Harry Shannon out on a date without their wives.
Close Relations
1933-09-30
Roscoe believes he is in line to receive a large inheritance, but the reality is considerably more p
Faint Heart
1929-12-21
Felix Rudolff is a dressmaker tailor and later dresses like a policeman after seeing a parade He bec
The Mummy's Ghost
1944-06-30
An Egyptian high priest travels to America to reclaim the bodies of ancient Egyptian princess Ananka
The Tall Men
1955-09-22
Two brothers discharged from the Confederate Army join a businessman for a cattle drive from Texas t
The Peacemaker
1956-11-01
A former gunfighter who went to prison but then took up religion arrives in a western town as the ne
Gambling on the High Seas
1940-06-22
A reporter enlists the help of a gangster's secretary to obtain evidence to bring her boss to justic
No More West
1934-03-29
Bert Lahr is a big city boy hung up on tales of the Old West. When his playing cowboys and Indians c
Tear Gas Squad
1940-05-04
A brash night club singer becomes a cop to impress a woman.
One Crowded Night
1940-08-09
The future of a group of strangely connected lives is determined on one crucial night at a dinky mot
In Old Oklahoma
1943-12-06
Cowboy Dan Somers and oilman Jim "Hunk" Gardner compete for oil lease rights on Indian land in Oklah
Headin' for God's Country
1943-08-26
In this anti-Japanese WW II propaganda film, Japanese invaders attempt to raid Alaska and are totall
The Falcon Takes Over
1942-05-29
While an escaped convict, Moose Malloy, goes in search of his ex-girlfriend Velma, police inspector
Blue Blood
1951-01-28
An out of work racehorse trainer is adopted by the daughters of a wealthy breeder and trains a cast-
Captain Eddie
1945-06-18
WWI flyer Eddie Rickenbaker remembers his life which brought him from a car salesman, race driver an
The Lady Is Willing
1942-02-12
Bold, eccentric Broadway performer Elizabeth Madden befuddles her handlers by coming home with a bab
The Sound of Fury
1950-12-12
A family man – desperate for a job – latches onto a friend who encourages him into being a criminal.
Roar of the Crowd
1953-05-31
Johnny Tracy, son of veteran race driver Pop Tracy, is working his way up on the racing circuit, but
Tarnished
1950-02-28
Bud Dolliver, a former WWII hero, and an ex-convict, returns to his home town in an effort to make a
Executive Suite
1954-04-30
When the head of a large manufacturing firm dies suddenly from a stroke, his vice-presidents vie to
The Big Street
1942-08-13
Meek busboy Little Pinks is in love with an extremely selfish nightclub singer who despises and uses
Crack-Up
1946-09-06
Art curator George Steele experiences a train wreck...which never happened. Is he cracking up, or th
The Mad Martindales
1942-05-15
A girl tries to pay the mortgage on a Nob Hill home and gets involved in selling her father's art tr
The Girl from Avenue A
1940-08-09
A tough girl raised in the streets finds that her dialect and manners are helpful as source material
The Buccaneer
1958-12-11
During the War of 1812 against Britain: General Andrew Jackson has only 1,200 men left to defend New
Pride of the Marines
1945-08-24
Marine hero Al Schmid is blinded in battle and returns home to be rehabilitated. He readjusts to his
Canyon Passage
1946-07-17
In 1850s Oregon, a businessman is torn between his love of two very different women and his loyalty
The Campus Mystery
1932-07-01
Pride of Maryland
1951-01-20
Frankie, a young jockey with a new style of riding that brings him acclaim, is barred from the track