J.P. McGowan

Birthday: 1880-02-23
Deathday: 1952-03-26
Birthplace: Terowie, Australia
Gender: Male

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.

Credits

Year Title
Captain Kidd
1938-02-02 Where the West Begins
1937-09-01 Roaring Six Guns
1937-08-14 Rough Riding Rhythm
1935-03-15 The Outlaw Tamer
1933-09-21 War of the Range
1933-05-05 Deadwood Pass
1933-01-23 Drum Taps
1933-01-14 When a Man Rides Alone
1932-08-01 The Hurricane Express
1932-04-10 The Scarlet Brand
1932-03-22 Tangled Fortunes
1932-03-03 Lawless Valley
1932-02-10 Mark of the Spur
1932-01-10 Human Targets
1931-11-24 Quick Trigger Lee
1931-11-01 Shotgun Pass
1931-08-01 So This Is Arizona
1931-04-05 Riders of the North
1930-11-15 Under Texas Skies
1930-10-16 Code of Honor
1930-10-01 Beyond the Law
1930-08-25 Canyon Hawks
1930-07-10 The Oklahoma Sheriff
1930-06-10 Near the Rainbow's End
1930-06-01 The Canyon of Missing Men
1930-05-15 Western Honor
1930-04-04 The Man from Nowhere
1930-04-01 The Hunted Men
1930-03-01 Call of the Desert
1930-02-01 Covered Wagon Trails
1930-01-24 Breezy Bill
1930-01-01 O'Malley Rides Alone
1929-12-26 A Texas Cowboy
1929-11-01 Code of the West
1929-11-01 The Oklahoma Kid
1929-10-01 The Invaders
1929-10-01 The Cowboy and the Outlaw
1929-09-27 Riders of the Rio Grande
1929-08-19 Law of the Plains
1929-08-01 The Fighting Terror
1929-06-30 The Last Roundup
1929-05-29 Captain Cowboy
1929-02-15 Headin' Westward
1929-01-02 Below the Deadline
1929-01-01 'Neath Western Skies
1928-10-01 Manhattan Cowboy
1928-09-01 The Chinatown Mystery
1928-08-01 Arizona Days
1927-05-22 The Outlaw Dog
1927-04-01 Thunderbolt's Tracks
1927-03-20 Tarzan and the Golden Lion
1927-03-01 Red Signals
1926-10-22 Perils of the Rail
1926-09-28 Crossed Signals
1925-10-01 Webs of Steel
1925-07-30 The Road Agent
1925-07-28 The Lost Express
1925-07-14 The Ace of Clubs
1925-07-01 The Fast Freight
1925-07-01 Ambushed
1925-07-01 A Desperate Chance
1925-06-29 Mistaken Orders
1925-06-08 Cold Nerve
1925-03-26 Barriers of the Law
1925-01-01 Outwitted
1924-09-25 A Desperate Adventure
1924-04-08 Crossed Trails
1924-02-13 A Two Fisted Tenderfoot
1924-02-09 The Whipping Boss
1924-02-01 Baffled
1923-07-01 Stormy Seas
1922-07-24 Perils of the Yukon
1922-02-26 Hills of Missing Men
1921-11-06 Below the Deadline
1921-01-08 Tiger True
1921-01-02 Do or Die
1920-06-07 The Vanishing Dagger
1920-01-02 King of the Circus
1920-01-02 Elmo the Fearless
1919-03-17 The Red Glove
1919-01-02 Elmo, the Mighty
1918-11-18 The Lure of the Circus
1917-09-17 The Lost Express
1917-04-09 The Railroad Raiders
1917-02-24 The Hazards of Helen
1916-09-25 The Manager of the B & A
1916-08-28 The Diamond Runners
1916-07-31 Judith of the Cumberlands
1916-07-03 Medicine Bend
1916-06-05 Whispering Smith
1916-01-02 A Lass of the Lumberlands
1915-12-25 When Rogues Fall Out
1915-11-27 A Desperate Leap
1915-11-06 The Mettle of Jerry McGuire
1915-10-14 Blackbirds
1915-07-24 The Girl on the Engine
1915-07-17 A Deed of Daring
1915-07-13 The Fate of Number One
1915-07-10 A Wild Ride
1915-07-03 The Midnight Limited
1915-06-26 The Hazards of Helen Ep33: In Danger's Path
1915-06-19 Near Eternity
1915-06-11 The Pay Train
1915-06-05 The Human Chain
1915-05-29 A Railroader's Bravery
1915-05-22 The Broken Train
1915-05-07 The Hazards of Helen Ep26: The Wild Engine
1915-05-01 The Box Car Trap
1915-04-24 A Race for a Crossing
1915-04-17 The Girl Engineer
1915-04-10 The Girl on the Trestle
1915-04-03 A Life in the Balance
1915-03-27 The Girl at Lone Point
1915-03-20 The Railroad Raiders of '62
1915-03-06 The Death Train
1915-02-27 The Open Drawbridge
1915-02-20 The Engineer's Peril
1915-01-30 The Little Engineer
1915-01-23 The Fast Mail's Danger
1915-01-16 The Broken Circuit
1915-01-09 The Leap from the Water Tower
1915-01-02 The Girl Telegrapher's Peril
1915-01-02 The Girl and the Game
1914-12-26 The Escape on the Limited
1914-12-19 The Black Diamond Express
1914-12-12 The Flying Freight's Captive
1914-12-05 The Stolen Engine
1914-11-28 The Girl at the Throttle
1914-11-21 The Plot at the Railroad Cut
1914-11-18 His Nemesis
1914-11-14 Helen's Sacrifice
1914-10-07 The Lost Mail Sack
1914-08-28 The Car of Death
1914-08-05 The Operator at Black Rock
1914-07-07 Kaintucky Bill
1914-06-29 The Flaw in the Alibi
1914-01-01 A String of Pearls
1913-04-08 The Pursuit of the Smugglers
1913-01-11 A Sawmill Hazard