J.P. McGowan
Acting
- Born:
- 1880-02-23
- Died:
- 1952-03-26
- Place of birth:
- Terowie, Australia
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
The Lady and the Bandit
Stagecoach
Code of the Fearless
The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
Kidnapped
Hunted Men
The Buccaneer
Prairie Thunder
Heart of the Rockies
Rough Riding Rhythm
Empty Holsters
She Had to Eat
Slave Ship
Hit the Saddle
Borderland
Jungle Jim
Sinner Take All
Stampede
The Accusing Finger
Fury and the Woman
The Three Mesquiteers
Ride 'Em Cowboy
Guns and Guitars
Secret Patrol
Robin Hood of El Dorado
The Prisoner of Shark Island
Silverspurs
Bar 20 Rides Again
East of Java
The Silent Code
Diamond Jim
Border Brigands
Murder in the Fleet
Whispering Smith Speaks
Les Misérables
The Call of the Savage
Mississippi
The Outlaw Tamer
Rustlers of Red Dog
When Lightning Strikes
Wagon Wheels
The Red Rider
No More Women
Somewhere in Sonora
Flaming Gold
Lawless Valley
Quick Trigger Lee
The Canyon of Missing Men
Covered Wagon Trails
Breezy Bill
O'Malley Rides Alone
A Texas Cowboy
Señor Americano
The Oklahoma Kid
Pioneers of the West
The Invaders
The Cowboy and the Outlaw
The Law of the Plains
The Fighting Terror
The Last Roundup
Plunging Hoofs
Bad Men's Money
The Lawless Legion
Headin' Westward
Below the Deadline
'Neath Western Skies
Ships of the Night
Two Outlaws
The Old Code
The Lightnin’ Shot
The Black Ace
The Chinatown Mystery
Arizona Days
The Code of the Scarlet
The Devil’s Tower
Dugan of the Dugouts
The Slaver
Gun Gospel
The Red Raiders
Arizona Nights
The Royal American
The Lost Limited
Red Signals
Perils of the Rail
Crack O' Dawn
The Lost Express
Moran of the Mounted
Senor Daredevil
The Patent Leather Pug
The Fast Freight
Red Blood
Duped
Barriers of the Law
Outwitted
Crossed Trails
A Two Fisted Tenderfoot
The Whipping Boss
Baffled
Stormy Seas
Hills of Missing Men
Cold Steel
Do or Die
King of the Circus
Elmo the Fearless
The Railroad Raiders
The Hazards of Helen
Medicine Bend
Whispering Smith
A Desperate Leap
The Mettle of Jerry McGuire
The Broken Rail
A Railroader's Bravery
The Broken Train
The Railroad Raiders of '62
The Leap from the Water Tower
The Girl Telegrapher's Peril
The Girl and the Game
The Escape on the Limited
The Black Diamond Express
The Flying Freight's Captive
His Nemesis
Helen's Sacrifice
Kaintucky Bill
The Wives of Jamestown
The Shaughraun
Ireland, the Oppressed
The Mayor from Ireland
The Little Gluers
From the Manger to the Cross
The Poacher's Pardon
The Grit of the Girl Telegrapher
Winning a Widow
Tragedy of the Desert
Captured by Bedouins
An Arabian Tragedy
Dust of the Desert
Far from Erin's Isle
Vagabonds
His Mother
The Fishermaid of Ballydavid
The Colleen Bawn
Rory O'More
The Special Messenger
Railroad Raiders of '62
When the Dead Return
The Fiddler’s Requiem
Slim Jim's Last Chance
By a Woman's Wit
A Sawmill Hero
When Lovers Part
The Lad from Old Ireland
Danger Quest