Biography
American character actor Harry Cheshire was usually billed as "Pappy," and, like S. Z. "Cuddles" Sakall, he certainly lived up to his nickname, both visually and temperamentally. After a long career on stage and in radio, Cheshire came to films in 1940, appearing in many of Republic's "hillbilly" musicals and westerns. In larger-budgeted films, he was usually seen in minor roles as businessmen, ministers, justice of the peaces and the like. He played Dr. Campbell in the Yuletide classic
It's a Wonderful Life (1946), the stage manager of the ill-fated Iroquois theater in
The Seven Little Foys (1955) and the Elvis-hating mayor in
Loving You (1957). He also showed up in a few of the
Ma and Pa Kettle entries, and was afforded a rare opportunity at all-out villainy in
Dangerous Mission (1954). TV western fans will remember Harry Cheshire as Judge Ben Wiley on the
Gene Autry-produced weekly Buffalo Bill Jr. (1954). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide