J.P. McGowan
Acting
Born 1880-02-23
Died 1952-03-26
Terowie, Australia
255 credits
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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.
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Filmography
— top 60 of 255
Acting
40 credits
Stagecoach
Gun Gospel
Red Blood
The Prisoner of Shark Island
Les Misérables
Señor Americano
Danger Quest
Kaintucky Bill
His Nemesis
The Buccaneer
Stormy Seas
Diamond Jim
Whispering Smith
Baffled
Sinner Take All
Slave Ship
Mississippi
The Accusing Finger
The Slaver
Cold Steel
Hunted Men
Kidnapped
Medicine Bend
The Red Raiders
Outwitted
Murder in the Fleet
Rough Riding Rhythm
Robin Hood of El Dorado
Savage Fury
Wagon Wheels
The Girl and the Game
The Lady and the Bandit
Silverspurs
The Whipping Boss
The Code of the Scarlet
Crack O' Dawn
The Mettle of Jerry McGuire
East of Java
A Two Fisted Tenderfoot
Hit the Saddle
Directing
33 credits
Red Blood
Kaintucky Bill
His Nemesis
Stormy Seas
Whispering Smith
Mystery Valley
Trail Raiders
Baffled
Where the West Begins
Painted Trail
Courage
Medicine Bend
The Vanishing Dagger
Captain Kidd
The Invaders
Trailin’ Back
Outwitted
Captain Cowboy
Mistaken Orders
Rough Riding Rhythm
The Code of Honor
Ambushed
The Girl and the Game
The Red Glove
In Danger's Path
The Hurricane Express
The Whipping Boss
Below the Deadline
When a Dog Loves
Thunderbolt's Tracks
Roaring Six Guns
The Mettle of Jerry McGuire
A Two Fisted Tenderfoot
Writing
8 credits
His Nemesis
Mystery Valley
Trail Raiders
Trailin’ Back
Outwitted
Captain Cowboy
The Girl and the Game
The Hurricane Express
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