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.
Filmography
all 215
Movies 215
Director 103
Writer 2
The Lady and the Bandit (1951)
Stagecoach (1939)
Code of the Fearless (1939)
The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1938)
Kidnapped (1938)
The Buccaneer (1938)
Where the West Begins (1938)
Prairie Thunder (1937)
Heart of the Rockies (1937)
Roaring Six Guns (1937)
Rough Riding Rhythm (1937)
Empty Holsters (1937)
She Had to Eat (1937)
Slave Ship (1937)
What Price Vengeance (1937)
Hit the Saddle (1937)
Borderland (1937)
Jungle Jim (1937)
Sinner Take All (1936)
Stampede (1936)
The Accusing Finger (1936)
Fury and the Woman (1936)
The Three Mesquiteers (1936)
Ride 'Em Cowboy (1936)
Guns and Guitars (1936)
Secret Patrol (1936)
Robin Hood of El Dorado (1936)
Silver Spurs (1936)
Bar 20 Rides Again (1935)
East of Java (1935)
The Silent Code (1935)
Diamond Jim (1935)
Border Brigands (1935)
Murder in the Fleet (1935)
Whispering Smith Speaks (1935)
The Call of the Savage (1935)
Mississippi (1935)
The Outlaw Tamer (1935)
Rustlers of Red Dog (1935)
When Lightning Strikes (1934)
The Red Rider (1934)
No More Women (1934)
War of the Range (1933)
Somewhere in Sonora (1933)
Deadwood Pass (1933)
Drum Taps (1933)
When a Man Rides Alone (1933)
Flaming Gold (1932)
The Hurricane Express (1932)
The Scarlet Brand (1932)
The Man from New Mexico (1932)
Tangled Fortunes (1932)
Lawless Valley (1932)
Mark of the Spur (1932)
Human Targets (1932)
Quick Trigger Lee (1931)
Shotgun Pass (1931)
So This Is Arizona (1931)
A Son of the Plains (1931)
Riders of the North (1931)
Under Texas Skies (1930)
Code of Honor (1930)
Beyond the Law (1930)
Canyon Hawks (1930)
The Oklahoma Sheriff (1930)
Near the Rainbow's End (1930)
The Canyon of Missing Men (1930)
Western Honor (1930)
The Man from Nowhere (1930)
The Hunted Men (1930)
Call of the Desert (1930)
Covered Wagon Trails (1930)
Breezy Bill (1930)
O'Malley Rides Alone (1930)
A Texas Cowboy (1929)
Señor Americano (1929)
The Oklahoma Kid (1929)
Code of the West (1929)
The Invaders (1929)
The Cowboy and the Outlaw (1929)
Riders of the Rio Grande (1929)
Law of the Plains (1929)
The Fighting Terror (1929)
The Last Roundup (1929)
Captain Cowboy (1929)
Plunging Hoofs (1929)
The Lawless Legion (1929)
Headin' Westward (1929)
Below the Deadline (1929)
'Neath Western Skies (1929)
Ships of the Night (1928)
Two Outlaws (1928)
Manhattan Cowboy (1928)
The Black Ace (1928)
The Chinatown Mystery (1928)
Arizona Days (1928)
The Code of the Scarlet (1928)
Dugan of the Dugouts (1928)
Gun Gospel (1927)
The Red Raiders (1927)
Arizona Nights (1927)
The Royal American (1927)
The Outlaw Dog (1927)
Thunderbolt's Tracks (1927)
Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1927)
Red Signals (1927)
Perils of the Rail (1926)
Crack O' Dawn (1926)
Crossed Signals (1926)
Senor Daredevil (1926)
The Brown Derby (1926)
The Road Agent (1925)
The Lost Express (1925)
The Ace of Clubs (1925)
A Desperate Chance (1925)
Ambushed (1925)
The Fast Freight (1925)
Mistaken Orders (1925)
Cold Nerve (1925)
Barriers of the Law (1925)
Outwitted (1925)
A Desperate Adventure (1924)
A Two Fisted Tenderfoot (1924)
The Whipping Boss (1924)
Stormy Seas (1923)
Perils of the Yukon (1922)
Hills of Missing Men (1922)
Below the Deadline (1921)
Tiger True (1921)
Do or Die (1921)
The Vanishing Dagger (1920)
Elmo the Fearless (1920)
King of the Circus (1920)
The Red Glove (1919)
Elmo, the Mighty (1919)
The Lure of the Circus (1918)
The Lost Express (1917)
The Railroad Raiders (1917)
The Hazards of Helen (1917)
The Manager of the B & A (1916)
The Diamond Runners (1916)
Judith of the Cumberlands (1916)
Medicine Bend (1916)
Whispering Smith (1916)
A Lass of the Lumberlands (1916)
When Rogues Fall Out (1915)
A Desperate Leap (1915)
The Mettle of Jerry McGuire (1915)
Blackbirds (1915)
The Broken Rail (1915)
The Girl on the Engine (1915)
A Deed of Daring (1915)
The Fate of Number One (1915)
A Wild Ride (1915)
The Midnight Limited (1915)
The Hazards of Helen Ep33: In Danger's Path (1915)
Near Eternity (1915)
The Pay Train (1915)
The Human Chain (1915)
A Railroader's Bravery (1915)
The Broken Train (1915)
The Hazards of Helen Ep26: The Wild Engine (1915)
The Box Car Trap (1915)
A Race for a Crossing (1915)
The Girl Engineer (1915)
The Girl on the Trestle (1915)
A Life in the Balance (1915)
The Girl at Lone Point (1915)
The Railroad Raiders of '62 (1915)
The Death Train (1915)
The Open Drawbridge (1915)
The Engineer's Peril (1915)
The Little Engineer (1915)
The Fast Mail's Danger (1915)
The Broken Circuit (1915)
The Hazards of Helen Ep09: The Leap from the Water Tower (1915)
The Girl Telegrapher's Peril (1915)
The Girl and the Game (1915)
The Escape on the Limited (1914)
The Black Diamond Express (1914)
The Flying Freight's Captive (1914)
The Stolen Engine (1914)
The Girl at the Throttle (1914)
The Plot at the Railroad Cut (1914)
His Nemesis (1914)
Helen's Sacrifice (1914)
The Lost Mail Sack (1914)
The Car of Death (1914)
The Operator at Black Rock (1914)
Kaintucky Bill (1914)
The Flaw in the Alibi (1914)
The Pursuit of the Smugglers (1913)
A Sawmill Hazard (1913)
The Shaughraun (1912)
Ireland, the Oppressed (1912)
The Little Gluers (1912)
From the Manger to the Cross (1912)
The Poacher's Pardon (1912)
Winning a Widow (1912)
Captured by Bedouins (1912)
An Arabian Tragedy (1912)
Dust of the Desert (1912)
His Mother (1912)
The Colleen Bawn (1911)
Rory O'More (1911)
The Special Messenger (1911)
Railroad Raiders of '62 (1911)
When the Dead Return (1911)
The Fiddler’s Requiem (1911)
Slim Jim's Last Chance (1911)
By a Woman's Wit (1911)
A Sawmill Hero (1911)
When Lovers Part (1910)
The Lad from Old Ireland (1910)
Captain Kidd
Ratings
Information
Known ForActing
GenderMale
Birthday1880-02-24
Deathday1952-03-26 (72 years old)
Birth PlaceTerowie, Australia
CitizenshipsAustralia, United States of America
Also Known AsJohn Paterson McGowan
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