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person_profile-J.P. McGowan

J.P. McGowan Died at age: 72

Actor | Producer

Fullname:

J.P. McGowan

Date of Birth:

Feb 23, 1880

Country of birth:

Australia

Died:

Mar 26, 1952

Biography of

J.P. McGowan

    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.

Photos of

J.P. McGowan

Photos ( 1 Photos

Filmography of

J.P. McGowan

Found 63 Movies in total

... 1938

... 1937

Rough Riding Rhythm

Pete Hobart ( Actor )

Director

... 1937

... 1933

... 1933

Drum Taps

Screenplay

... 1933

... 1933

... 1932

... 1932

... 1932

Lawless Valley

Big Mike Carter, aka El Lobo, aka Texas Rand ( Actor )

Director

... 1932

... 1932

... 1932

Quick Trigger Lee

Brings note / Director ( Actor )

Director

... 1931

... 1931

... 1931

... 1931

... 1930

... 1930

... 1930

... 1930

... 1930

... 1930

O'Malley Rides Alone

Angus McGregor ( Actor )

Director

... 1930

A Texas Cowboy

Brute Kettle ( Actor )

Director

... 1929

... 1929

The Cowboy and the Outlaw

Pepper Hardcastle ( Actor )

Director

... 1929

Law of the Plains

Seagrue ( Actor )

Director

... 1929

The Last Roundup

Hash ( Actor )

Director

... 1929

Below the Deadline

Taggart ( Actor )

Director

... 1929

'Neath Western Skies

Dugan ( Actor )

Director

... 1929

... 1928

... 1928

Arizona Days

Ed Hicks ( Actor )

Director

... 1928

... 1927

... 1927

Red Signals

Jim Twyler ( Actor )

Director

... 1927

Perils of the Rail

Barker's Accomplice at Smelter Junction ( Actor )

Director

... 1926

... 1926

... 1925

... 1925

The Lost Express

Train Engineer ( Actor )

Director

... 1925

... 1925

... 1925

Barriers of the Law

Steve Redding ( Actor )

Director

... 1925

Outwitted

Tiger McGuire ( Actor )

Writer

... 1925

... 1924

The Whipping Boss

Livingston ( Actor )

Director

... 1924

Stormy Seas

Capt. Morgan ( Actor )

Director

... 1923

... 1922

Hills of Missing Men

Capt. Brandt / The Dragon ( Actor )

Writer

... 1922

Do or Die

Capt. Alvarez / Satan ( Actor )

Director

... 1921

... 1920

... 1920

... 1920

... 1918

The Railroad Raiders

Thomas Desmond ( Actor )

Editor

... 1917

The Hazards of Helen

Various roles ( Actor )

Director

... 1917

... 1916

... 1916

Whispering Smith

Whispering Smith ( Actor )

Director

... 1916

... 1916

Blackbirds

Director

... 1915