J.P. McGowan
Personal Info
Known For Actor
Gender Male
Birthday 1880-02-23
Deathday 1952-03-26 (72 years old)
Place of Birth Terowie, Australia
Also Known As John Paterson McGowan
J.P. McGowan
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
Actor
as Old Man
as (uncredited)
as Undetermined Minor Role
as Scudder
as Clansman
as Jailer
as Col. Stanton
as Ed Dawson
as Pete Hobart
as U.S. Marshal Billy O'Neill
as Police Sergeant (uncredited)
as Helmsman
as Rance McGowan
as El Rio Sheriff
as Ship Captain J.S. Robinson
as Police Officer Murphy (uncredited)
as Matt Stevens
as Inner Guard
as Anderson
as Brack Canfield
as Jim Howard
as Dave Morgan
as Blacksmith Barstow
as Danglong
as Webb Allison
as Buck Peters
as Sergeant, Rescue Party
as Commissioner
as Engineer
as Inspector Winston - RCMP
as Chief of Police (Uncredited)
as Caboose Passenger (uncredited)
as Javert's Plainclothesman
as Freighter Captain
as Dealer
as Sheriff Jim Porter
as Capt. Trent [Chs. 3-4]
as Lafe Broderick
as Scotty McKee
as Captain of The Hawk
as Monte Black
as Mack
as Big Mike Carter, aka El Lobo, aka Texas Rand
as Brings note / Director
as Sheriff
as Angus McGregor
as Brute Kettle
as Maddox
as Pepper Hardcastle
as Seagrue
as Hash
as Jim Wales
as Matson
as Sneezer Clark
as Taggart
as Dugan
as Motilla
as Abner Whitcomb
as Ed Hicks
as Blake
as Capt. von Brinken
as Bill Brogan
as Captain Ortwell
as Jeff Decker
as Capt. Burke
as Jim Twyler
as Barker's Accomplice at Smelter Junction
as Earle Thorpe Sr.
as Jesse Wilks
as Train Engineer
as Steve Redding
as Tiger McGuire
as Livingston
as Capt. Morgan
as Capt. Brandt / The Dragon
as Capt. Alvarez / Satan
as Thomas Desmond
as Various roles
as Whispering Smith
as Whispering Smith
as Jerry McGuire
as Trow - of the Working Crew
as Thomas - the Chief of the Gang
as Warren - Railroad Employee
as Lockwood - the old one-armed Flagman
as Rand - the Fireman
as Blake - a Lineman
as Spike
as Brandt - a Defaulting Cashier
as Dan Haddon - a Cowboy
as Rand - a Yeggman
as Mammoth - Manning's Business Rival
as Benton
as Kaintucky Bill - a Moonshiner
as Corry Kinchela
as Lord Kilhannack
as Valentine Hay
as Wise Man 1
as Mr. Wallace - the Gamekeeper
as The Arab Sheik
as Lt. Greig
as Sheik Mohammad
as John Foster
as Hardress Cregan
as Commander of the English troops
as Royal
as Federal Officer
as Jacques
as Dolores' father
as The Rancher
as Election Agent
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Writer
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as Screenplay
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as Scenario Writer
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as Scenario Writer
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Producer
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