Home >

J.P. McGowan

J.P. McGowan

Birthday: 1880-02-24 | Place of Birth:

From Wikipedia John Paterson McGowan (February 24, 1880 – March 26, 1952) was a pioneering Hollywood actor and director and occasionally a screenwriter and producer. J. P. McGowan, as he was usually known, remains the only Australian to have been made a life member of the Screen Directors Guild (now Directors Guild of America). Born in the then-bustling railway centre of Terowie in South Australia, McGowan grew up in Adelaide (Islington) and Sydney. He was a capable horseman and served in the Second Boer War with Montmorency's Scouts as a special dispatch rider. McGowan directed and often acted in the first 33 episodes of Kalem's 1914 adventure film series, The Hazards of Helen, which eventually ran to 54 episodes, some still with McGowan's participation. While filming he began a relationship with Helen Holmes, the film's star, and the two married. They left Kalem to set up their own production company, Signal Films, which successfully made a series of railroad melodramas but lost out when their distributor (Mutual) failed. The collaboration ended when they divorced in 1925. There was an adopted daughter, Kaye. McGowan successfully made the transition from silent film to talkies. While never a major star, in a busy career that spanned four decades he is credited with acting in 232 films—mostly strong roles like sheriff or villain—writing 26 screenplays and directing 242 productions. In 1932 he directed a young John Wayne in the 12-episode rail vs airplane serial The Hurricane Express for the independent Mascot Pictures. From 1938 to 1951, as Executive Secretary of the Screen Directors Guild, he fought to secure recognition for the director within the studio systems of the film and emerging television industry. J.P. McGowan died in 1952 in Hollywood and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

...

Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

1937
Heart of the Rockies

as    Ed Dawson

1937
Hit the Saddle

as    Rance McGowan

1936
The Three Mesquiteers

as    Brack Canfield

1936
Stampede

as    Matt Stevens

1935
Bar 20 Rides Again

as    Buck Peters

1935
The Outlaw Tamer

as    Sheriff Jim Porter

1934
The Red Rider

as    Scotty McKee

1933
Somewhere in Sonora

as    Monte Black

1929
Señor Americano

as    Maddox

1929
The Lawless Legion

as    Matson

1928
The Code of the Scarlet

as    Blake

1928
Arizona Days

as    Ed Hicks

1927
Gun Gospel

as    Bill Brogan

1927
The Red Raiders

as    Captain Ortwell

1926
Senor Daredevil

as    Jesse Wilks