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...
Known For
Complete Filmography

The World of Tomorrow
1984
as Pop Middleton (archive footage)
Documentary featuring original materials from the 1939 New York World's Fair. Includes film images of Jason Robards Jr. as a child at the World's Fai...

Gypsy
1962
as Grandpa
Rose Hovick lives to see her daughter June succeed on Broadway by way of vaudeville. When June marries and leaves, Rose turns her hope and attention t...

Summer and Smoke
1961
as Dr. Burke (uncredited)
In a small Mississippi town in 1916, an eccentric spinster battles her romantic yearnings for the randy boy next door.

Wild in the Country
1961
as Sam Tyler (uncredited)
A troubled young man discovers that he has a knack for writing when a counselor encourages him to pursue a literary career.

Yellowstone Kelly
1959
as Captain of the Far West (uncredited)
A fur-trapper named Kelly, who once saved the life of a Sioux chief, is allowed to set his traps in Sioux territory during the late 1870s. Reluctantly...

The Buccaneer
1958
as Tom Carruthers - Captain of the Corinthian
During the War of 1812 against Britain: General Andrew Jackson has only 1,200 men left to defend New Orleans when he learns that a British fleet will ...

Man or Gun
1958
as Justin Corley
Gun-slinging drifter "Maybe" Smith's Colt .44 pistol and shooting skills are put to the test shortly after his arrival in the New Mexico frontier town...

Touch of Evil
1958
as Chief Gould
When a car bomb explodes on the American side of the U.S./Mexico border, Mexican drug enforcement agent Miguel Vargas begins his investigation, along ...

The Lonely Man
1957
as Dr. Fisher
Aging gunslinger Jacob Wade hopes to settle down with his estranged son, but his old enemies have other plans for him. Gunslinger Jacob Wade finds his...

Hell's Crossroads
1957
as Clay Ford
An imprisoned gunfighter must scatter to elude the authorities. Outlaws Bob Ford (Robert Vaughn) and Vic Rodell (Stephen McNally) are nabbed, but the ...

Duel at Apache Wells
1957
as Wayne Shattuck
A young man returns home after several years absence to find that a gang is after not only his family ranch, but his girlfriend as well.

The Peacemaker
1956
as Drunken Cowpuncher
A former gunfighter who went to prison but then took up religion arrives in a western town as the new preacher. There he finds a feud between the ranc...

Written on the Wind
1956
as Hoak Wayne
Mitch Wayne is a geologist working for the Hadleys, an oil-rich Texas family. While the patriarch, Jasper, works hard to establish the family business...

Come Next Spring
1956
as Mr. Totter
Matt Ballot has returned home after 12 years of hard-drinking in all 48 states. His wife has managed to raise their 14-year-old daughter and 12-year-o...

At Gunpoint
1955
as Marshal Pete MacKay
A general-store keeper scares off bank robbers with a lucky shot, but they come back.

The Marauders
1955
as John Rutherford
A poor homesteader fights back when he's targeted for extinction by a powerful rancher and his gang of hired thugs.

The Tall Men
1955
as Sam
Two brothers discharged from the Confederate Army join a businessman for a cattle drive from Texas to Montana where they run into raiding Jayhawkers, ...

The Violent Men
1955
as Purdue
A former Union Army officer plans to sell out to Anchor Ranch and move east with his fiancée, but the low price offered by Anchor's crippled owner and...

Executive Suite
1954
as Ed Benedeck
When the head of a large manufacturing firm dies suddenly from a stroke, his vice-presidents vie to see who will replace him.

Witness to Murder
1954
as Captain Donnelly
A woman fights to convince the police that she witnessed a murder while looking out her bedroom window.

Rails Into Laramie
1954
as Judge Pierce
A federal agent arrives in Laramie to try to find out who is behind the efforts to stop the construction of a new railroad track.

Phantom Stallion
1954
as Michael Reilly
Ex-cavalry buddies, Rex and Slim, band together to capture a wild stallion, solve a murder and thwart the killers from cheating a boy out of his inher...

Jack Slade
1953
as Tom Carter
A young boy witnesses his father murdered by bandits and grows into adulthood vowing revenge.

Roar of the Crowd
1953
as Sam 'Pop' Tracy
Johnny Tracy, son of veteran race driver Pop Tracy, is working his way up on the racing circuit, but is urged by his sweetheart, Marcy Parker, to give...

Cry of the Hunted
1953
as Sheriff Brown
A prison convict escapes through the Louisiana swamps.

Kansas Pacific
1953
as Smokestack the Train Engineer
Just before the Civil War (but after the South has seceded), Southern saboteurs try to prevent railroad construction from crossing Kansas to the front...

Lure of the Wilderness
1952
as Pat McGowan
A young girl and her father, who is unjustly accused of murder, seek refuge in a Georgia swamp until they are befriended by a trapper who penetrates t...

Flesh and Fury
1952
as Mike Callan
Deaf boxer Paul Callan captures the interest of gold-digging blonde Sonya Bartow and retired fight manager 'Pop' Richardson. For a time, Sonya has the...

High Noon
1952
as Cooper
Will Kane, the sheriff of a small town in New Mexico, learns a notorious outlaw he put in jail has been freed, and will be arriving on the noon train....

The Scarf
1951
as Asylum Warden Anderson
A man who is believed to have murdered a woman, escapes from the insane asylum to find if he was the one to actually kill her using the scarf she was ...

The Lemon Drop Kid
1951
as John (Policeman)
When the Lemon Drop Kid accidentally cheats gangster Moose Moran out of his track winnings, the Kid promises to repay Moose the money by Christmas. Cr...

Blue Blood
1951
as Mr. Buchanan
An out of work racehorse trainer is adopted by the daughters of a wealthy breeder and trains a cast-off horse for the big race of the season.

Al Jennings of Oklahoma
1951
as Fred Salter
Film based on the story of Al Jennings, a former train robber turned attorney.

Hunt the Man Down
1950
as Wallace Bennett
A lawyer uncovers secrets behind a 12-year-old murder case.

The Flying Missile
1950
as Vice Admiral Williams
A Navy commander experiments with launching missiles from submarines.

The Sound of Fury
1950
as Mr. Yaeger
A family man – desperate for a job – latches onto a friend who encourages him into being a criminal.

Where Danger Lives
1950
as Dr. Maynard
A young doctor falls in love with a disturbed young woman and apparently becomes involved in the death of her husband. They head for Mexico trying to ...

The Killer That Stalked New York
1950
as Police Officer Houlihan
In New York, Sheila Bennet and her spouse, Matt Krane, are trying to unload a trove of rare jewels they smuggled into America from Cuba, but the polic...

The Underworld Story
1950
as George Parker
A blacklisted reporter brings his shady ways to a small-town newspaper after being fired from a big city daily.

Three Little Words
1950
as Clanahan
Song-and-dance man Bert Kalmar can't continue his stage career after an injury, so he has to earn his money as a lyricist. By chance, he meets compose...

The Gunfighter
1950
as Chuck (uncredited)
The fastest gun in the West tries to escape his reputation.

Curtain Call at Cactus Creek
1950
as Clay
Traveling entertainer gets mixed up with bank robbers.

Cow Town
1950
as Sandy Reeves
Gene responds to cattle rustling by stringing barbed wire all around his range.

The Jackie Robinson Story
1950
as Charlie
Biography of Jackie Robinson, the first black major league baseball player in the 20th century. Traces his career in the negro leagues and the major l...

Singing Guns
1950
as Judge Waller
Notorious stagecoach robber Rhiannon is unintentionally appointed as deputy when he saves the sheriff's life and must wear two hats between his new jo...

Tarnished
1950
as Kelsey Bunker
Bud Dolliver, a former WWII hero, and an ex-convict, returns to his home town in an effort to make a new life for himself but, even with the help of L...

Mary Ryan, Detective
1949
as Sawyer
A female police detective enters jail to gain the confidence of a shoplifter and learn the identity of the leader of a stolen goods racket.

Mr. Soft Touch
1949
as Police Sergeant Garrett
When he learns that a gangster has taken over his nightclub and murdered his partner, returning WWII hero Joe Miracle steals the money from the club's...

Tulsa
1949
as Nelse Lansing
It's Tulsa, Oklahoma at the start of the oil boom and Cherokee Lansing's rancher father is killed in a fight with the Tanner Oil Company. Cherokee pla...

Champion
1949
as Lew
An unscrupulous boxer fights his way to the top, but eventually alienates all of the people who helped him on the way up.

Rustlers
1949
as Sheriff Harmon
A group of Arizona ranchers, trying to learn the identities of the Salt River Gang and prevent any further rustling, marks the currency that rancher F...

Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin'
1948
as Chauncey
A fast-talking salesman is "kidnapped" by a town, which intends to use him in its annual race with a rival community.

Big Town Scandal
1948
as Police Captain Henry (uncredited)
A crusading editor and his star reporter aid underprivileged youths and crack down on racketeers out to fix basketball.

Fighting Father Dunne
1948
as Thomas Lee
A dedicated priest tries to reform a group of homeless boys in turn-of-the-century St. Louis.

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
1948
as Tesander
An advertising executive dreams of getting out of the city and building a perfect home in the country, only to find the transition fraught with proble...

My Girl Tisa
1948
1905 was a period of heavy immigration from Europe to America before laws were passed restricting the flow of immigrants. Almost every character in th...

The Lady from Shanghai
1947
as Cab Driver
A romantic drifter gets caught between a corrupt tycoon and his voluptuous wife.

Dangerous Years
1947
as Judge Raymond
Jeff Carter has put an end to the town's delinquency with a boys' club. Young hoodlum Danny shows up and influences teenagers Doris, Willy and Leo. Th...

The Invisible Wall
1947
as Det. Capt. R.W. Davis
A former GI gets his old job back working for a bookie after returning from serving in the military. Unfortunately, he loses the $20,000 he was suppos...

Exposed
1947
as Severance
A private eye and her sidekick solve the case of a dead client.

Time Out of Mind
1947
as Capt. Rogers
The son of a wealthy Maine family shocks his relatives by announcing he wants to pursue a career in music.

The Farmer's Daughter
1947
as Mr. Holstrom
After leaving her family's farm to study nursing in the city, a young woman finds herself on an unexpected path towards politics.

Nora Prentiss
1947
as Police Lieutenant
Quiet, organised Dr Talbot meets nightclub singer Nora Prentiss when she is slightly hurt in a street accident. Despite her misgivings they become hea...

The Devil Thumbs a Ride
1947
as Detective Owens, San Diego Police
Steve Morgan kills a man in a holdup and hitches a ride to Los Angeles with Fergie. At a gas station, they pick up two women. Encountering a roadblock...

The Red House
1947
as Dr. Jonathan Byrne
An old man and his sister are concealing a terrible secret from their adopted teen daughter, concerning a hidden abandoned farmhouse, located deep in ...

San Quentin
1946
as Warden Kelly
An ex-con sets up a program to straighten out hard-core prisoners. Things don't go as planned.

Crack-Up
1946
as Cop (Uncredited)
Art curator George Steele experiences a train wreck...which never happened. Is he cracking up, or the victim of a plot?

The Last Crooked Mile
1946
as Police Lieutenant Blake
A mystery grows after a bank robbery car leads investigators to a carnival sideshow.

Canyon Passage
1946
as Henry McLane (uncredited)
In 1850s Oregon, a businessman is torn between his love of two very different women and his loyalty to a compulsive gambler friend who goes over the l...

Night Editor
1946
as Capt. Lawrence
A daily news editor recalls a married detective and the deadly woman behind his downfall.

I Ring Doorbells
1946
as Shannon
Set at a major newspaper, this crime drama centers on a fellow who returns to newspaper reporting after he bombs as a playwright. Believing his grown ...

Pride of the Marines
1945
as Uncle Ralph
Marine hero Al Schmid is blinded in battle and returns home to be rehabilitated. He readjusts to his civilian life with the help of his soon to be wif...

Captain Eddie
1945
as Simmons
WWI flyer Eddie Rickenbaker remembers his life which brought him from a car salesman, race driver and pilot in WWI, to an important person in the earl...

Crime, Inc.
1945
as Police Commissioner Collins
A crime reporter writes book to expose names and methods of the criminal leaders. He is held on a charge after refusing to explain how he got his info...

When the Lights Go On Again
1944
as Tom Cary
The hometown life of a young soldier suffering from shellshock amnesia is revealed in flashback.

The Mummy's Ghost
1944
as Sheriff Elwood
An Egyptian high priest travels to America to reclaim the bodies of ancient Egyptian princess Ananka and her living guardian mummy Kharis. Learning th...

The Yellow Rose of Texas
1944
as Sam Weston
Insurance Investigator Roy is looking for Weston and the missing money he supposedly obtained in a robbery. When he catches him and listens to his sto...

True to Life
1943
as Mr. Mason
A writer for a radio program needs some fresh ideas to juice up his show. For inspiration, he rents a room with a typical American family and begins t...

In Old Oklahoma
1943
as Charlie Witherspoon
Cowboy Dan Somers and oilman Jim "Hunk" Gardner compete for oil lease rights on Indian land in Oklahoma, as well as for the favors of schoolteacher Ca...

Headin' for God's Country
1943
as Albert Ness
In this anti-Japanese WW II propaganda film, Japanese invaders attempt to raid Alaska and are totally obliterated. The trouble begins when a stranger ...

Someone to Remember
1943
as Tom Gibbons
An elderly woman whose son disappeared years before refuses to move when her apartment building is turned into a college dormitory for male students, ...

Alaska Highway
1943
as John 'Pop' Ormsby
Pop Ormsby wins the contract from the Army Engineer Corps for the construction of the Alaska Highway connecting Alaska to Canada. The elder of his two...

Song of Texas
1943
as Sam Bennett
A man of no worth brags to his daughter back East that he is rich and owns a big ranch. When she decides to pay a visit to her father, Roy and his bud...

Idaho
1943
as Judge John Grey
A deputy sets out to prove that a respected judge, who had once been a criminal, is being framed for crimes committed by a crooked saloon owner.

The Powers Girl
1943
as Mr. Hendricks
Two small-town sisters who've come to New York City for very different reasons find themselves competing for the affections of a brash magazine photog...

Once Upon a Honeymoon
1942
as Ed Cumberland
A radio correspondent tries to rescue a burlesque queen from her marriage to a Nazi official.

Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
1942
as Mr. Tim Wiggs
In the shanty town called the Cabbage Patch, Mrs. Wiggs scrabbles for survival with her brood of children and hopes for the return of her husband, who...

The Big Street
1942
as Florida Doctor (Uncredited)
Meek busboy Little Pinks is in love with an extremely selfish nightclub singer who despises and uses him.

In Old California
1942
as Mr. Carlin
Boston pharmacist Tom Craig comes to Sacramento, where he runs afoul of local political boss Britt Dawson, who exacts protection payment from the citi...

The Falcon Takes Over
1942
as Detective Grimes (Uncredited)
While an escaped convict, Moose Malloy, goes in search of his ex-girlfriend Velma, police inspector Michael O'Hara attempts to track him assuming him ...

The Mad Martindales
1942
as Policeman
A girl tries to pay the mortgage on a Nob Hill home and gets involved in selling her father's art treasures.

This Gun for Hire
1942
as Steve Finnerty
Sadistic killer-for-hire Philip Raven becomes enraged when his latest job is paid off in marked bills. Vowing to track down his double-crossing boss, ...

The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine
1942
as Pinky Dolan
A New York radio personality travels to the small town of Fernville to oversee a contest to identify retired safecracker Jimmy Valentine, believed to ...

The Lady Is Willing
1942
as Barnes
Bold, eccentric Broadway performer Elizabeth Madden befuddles her handlers by coming home with a baby she picked up on the street. She wants to keep t...

Hold Back the Dawn
1941
as American Immigration Official (uncredited)
Romanian-French gigolo Georges Iscovescu wishes to enter the USA. Stopped in Mexico by the quota system, he decides to marry an American, then desert ...

Citizen Kane
1941
as Jim Kane
Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, ty...

The Saint In Palm Springs
1941
as Chief R.L. Graves
George Sanders makes his final appearance as crook-turned-detective Simon Templar, a.k.a. "The Saint," in The Saint in Palm Springs. The gimmick in th...

Tugboat Annie Sails Again
1940
as Capt. Mahoney
Two rival tugboat captains compete for local business.

Too Many Girls
1940
as Mr. Casey
Mr. Casey's daughter, Connie, wants to go to Pottawatomie College and without her knowledge, he sends four football players as her bodyguards. The col...

One Crowded Night
1940
as McDermott
The future of a group of strangely connected lives is determined on one crucial night at a dinky motel in the desert.

The Girl from Avenue A
1940
as Timson
A tough girl raised in the streets finds that her dialect and manners are helpful as source material for a playwright.

Sailor's Lady
1940
as Father McGann
Sailor is going to marry his girlfriend when he returns, but she becomes foster mother to baby whose parents are accidentally killed. The baby is acci...

Gambling on the High Seas
1940
as Ed, Chief of Police
A reporter enlists the help of a gangster's secretary to obtain evidence to bring her boss to justice.

Tear Gas Squad
1940
as Lieutenant Sullivan
A brash night club singer becomes a cop to impress a woman.

Young Tom Edison
1940
as Army Captain Brackett
Inventor Thomas Edison's boyhood is chronicled and shows him as a lad whose early inventions and scientific experiments usually end up causing disastr...

Parole Fixer
1940
as Randall
This expose of the U.S. parole system, as seen through the eyes of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, takes dead aim on lawyers who manipulate the justice ...

City of Chance
1940
as Passline
Texas girl goes to New York, becomes a newspaper reporter, and tries to get her gambler boyfriend to come home.

The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair
1939
as Father
"An average American family", the Middletons, visit the 1939 World's Fair and witnesses the advent of future technology, encountering robots and dishw...

Alibi Mark
1937
as Railroad Detective
When an out-of-work Chicagoan travels west as a hobo on a freight train, he finds himself falsely accused of murder.

Shake, Mr. Shakespeare
1936
as Macbeth
Comedic short featuring Shakespeare's notable characters; many performing musical numbers. An assistant director is told to read all Shakespeare’s wor...

A Peach of a Pair
1934
Vaudeville performers Cook and Butler are mistaken for domestic servants; hilarity ensues.

Smoked Hams
1934
as The Landlord
A vaudeville team convinces an agent to book their new act, which uses a Civil War theme.

No More West
1934
as Bank Robber
Bert Lahr is a big city boy hung up on tales of the Old West. When his playing cowboys and Indians causes a ruckus, he's brought before a judge who pr...
Take a Chance
1933
as Bartender
Take a Chance was based on the hit Broadway musical of the same name, though only one of the original songs, Eadie Was a Lady, has been retained. The ...

Close Relations
1933
as Harry Wart
Roscoe believes he is in line to receive a large inheritance, but the reality is considerably more psychopathic-- no, nuts.
20,000 Cheers for the Chain Gang
1933
Four convicts escape from a chain gang. Shortly thereafter, changes are made at the prison, because a blue ribbon commission will be investigating con...
Wrongorilla
1933
as Grogan
Jack Haley joins the circus.
The Campus Mystery
1932
as Police Sergeant
S.S. Van Dine mystery with police Inspector Carr. Although Donald Meek plays the leading role of the amateur detective, Dr. Crabtree, in other entries...

Heads Up
1930
as Capt. Denny
Jack Mason of the Coast Guard Academy meets Mary at the graduation ball and falls in love with her, though the girl's mother finds wealthy Rex Cutting...

Faint Heart
1929
as Dynamite Dan
Felix Rudolff is a dressmaker tailor and later dresses like a policeman after seeing a parade He becomes a rookie policeman who handcuffs Dynamite Dan...

Sympathy
1929
as Larry
Hobart Cavanaugh & Harry Shannon out on a date without their wives.