J.P. McGowan
- Acting
- February 23, 1880 · Terowie, Australia
- March 26, 1952
Biography
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
Filmography
- Savage Fury · Ship's Captain
- The Lady and the Bandit · Old Man
- Stagecoach · Bit Part (uncredited)
- Code of the Fearless · Undetermined Minor Role
- The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok · Scudder
- Kidnapped · Clansman
- Hunted Men · Cop
- The Buccaneer · Jailer
- Where the West Begins · Director
- Prairie Thunder · Col. Stanton
- Heart of the Rockies · Ed Dawson
- Roaring Six Guns · Director
- Rough Riding Rhythm · Pete Hobart, Director
- Empty Holsters · U.S. Marshal Billy O'Neill
- She Had to Eat · Police Sergeant (uncredited)
- Slave Ship · Helmsman
- What Price Vengeance · Writer
- Hit the Saddle · Rance McGowan
- Borderland · El Rio Sheriff
- Jungle Jim · Ship Captain J.S. Robinson
- Sinner Take All · Police Officer Murphy (uncredited)
- Stampede · Matt Stevens
- The Accusing Finger · Inner Guard
- Fury and the Woman · Anderson
- The Three Mesquiteers · Brack Canfield
- Ride 'Em Cowboy · Jim Howard
- Guns and Guitars · Dave Morgan
- Secret Patrol · Blacksmith Barstow, Screenplay
- Robin Hood of El Dorado · Danglong
- The Prisoner of Shark Island · Ship's Captain (uncredited)
- Silverspurs · Webb Allison
- Bar 20 Rides Again · Buck Peters
- East of Java · Sergeant, Rescue Party
- The Silent Code · Commissioner
- Diamond Jim · Engineer
- Border Brigands · Inspector Winston - RCMP
- Murder in the Fleet · Chief of Police (Uncredited)
- Whispering Smith Speaks · Caboose Passenger (uncredited)
- Les Misérables · Javert's Plainclothesman
- The Call of the Savage · Freighter Captain
- Mississippi · Dealer (uncredited)
- The Outlaw Tamer · Sheriff Jim Porter, Director
- The Lone Bandit · Director
- Rustlers of Red Dog · Capt. Trent [Chs. 3-4]
- When Lightning Strikes · Lafe Broderick
- Wagon Wheels · Couch
- The Red Rider · Scotty McKee
- No More Women · Captain of The Hawk
- War of the Range · Director
- Somewhere in Sonora · Monte Black
- Deadwood Pass · Director
- Drum Taps · Director, Screenplay
- When a Man Rides Alone · Director
- Flaming Gold · Mack
- The Hurricane Express · Screenplay, Director
- The Scarlet Brand · Director
- Tangled Fortunes · Director
- Lawless Valley · Big Mike Carter, aka El Lobo, aka Texas Rand, Director
- Mark of the Spur · Director
- Human Targets · Director
- Quick Trigger Lee · Brings note / Director, Director
- Shotgun Pass · Director
- The Cyclone Kid · Director
- Headin' for Trouble · Director
- So This Is Arizona · Director
- Riders of the North · Director
- Under Texas Skies · Director
- The Code of Honor · Director
- Beyond the Law · Director
- Canyon Hawks · Director
- The Oklahoma Sheriff · Director
- Near the Rainbow's End · Director
- The Canyon of Missing Men · Slug Sagel, Director
- Western Honor · Director
- The Man from Nowhere · Director
- The Hunted Men · Director
- The Call of the Desert · Director
- Covered Wagon Trails · Director
- Breezy Bill · Sheriff, Director
- O'Malley Rides Alone · Angus McGregor, Producer