Quick Facts
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Francis Connolly Shannon (July 27, 1874 – February 1, 1959), better known as Frank Shannon, was an Irish actor and writer.
A stage actor and silent film pioneer, Shannon made his screen debut in 1913's The Artist's Joke. He later appeared in dozens of films through the mid-1920s, including The Prisoner of Zenda (1913) and Monsieur Beaucaire (1924). Shannon then returned to the stage until beckoned back to Hollywood in 1931 and played a few substantial supporting parts, including Captain McTavish in Warner Bros.' Torchy Blaine series from 1937 to 1939, but he is most fondly remembered as the brilliant scientist Dr. Alexis Zarkov in the three Flash Gordon serials starring Buster Crabbe between 1936 and 1940. He worked afterwards as a writer for the TV-series Tales of the Texas Rangers between 1955 and 1958.
Shannon died in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California at the age of 84. He is interred at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California.
Partial filmography
- The Prisoner of Zenda (1913)
- Perjury (1921)
- Boomerang Bill (1922)
- Icebound (1924)
- Monsieur Beaucaire, as Badger (1924)
- Rasputin and the Empress, as Professor Propotkin (1932)
- 'G' Men, as Police Chief (1935)
- Flash Gordon, as Dr. Zarkov (1936)
- Road Gang, as Chaplain (1936)
- End of the Trail (1936)
- The Texas Rangers, as Captain Stafford (1936)
- The Adventurous Blonde, as Cap. McTavish (1937)
- Blondes at Work, as Cap. McTavish (1938)
- Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars, as Dr. Zarkov (1938)
- Torchy Gets Her Man, as Cap. McTavish (1938)
- Torchy Blane in Chinatown, as Cap. McTavish (1939)
- Torchy Runs for Mayor, as Cap. McTavish (1939)
- Torchy Blane... Playing with Dynamite, as Cap. McTavish (1939)
- Union Pacific, as Old Man (1939)
- Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, as Dr. Zarkov (1940)
- Federal Fugitives (1941)
- The Phantom, as Professor Davidson (1943)
- The Desert Hawk (1944)