He first gained international prominence as the villainous sulky driver, "Flea-Flit Dryer", in the film Home in Indiana, opposite Walter Brennan, Ward Bond, Lon McAllister, June Haver, and Jeanne Crain.
Numerous other motion pictures include his portrayal of a middle-weight champ in Ex-Champ, prison guard with Susan Hayward in I Want to Live!, a gambler in Guys and Dolls, police officer Noble in The Big Chase, and deputy sheriff with Jane Fonda in Cat Ballou.
In the first and sixth episodes of Disney's World of Color series, Gallegher, Chissell played the Irish fight referee and jailer opposite Edmond O'Brien.
Good friends with Hal Raynor and Joe Penner, Chissell did some radio comedy bits during the 1930s.
In 1966, in an uncredited role, he appeared in James Arness's TV Western series Gunsmoke, playing a clan's Buffalo Hunter in S11E26's “”Which Doctor?”.