Acting
J.P. McGowan
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
Savage Fury
Film · 1956
The Lady and the Bandit
Film · 1951
Code of the Fearless
Film · 1939
Stagecoach
Film · 1939
The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
Film · 1938
Kidnapped
Film · 1938
The Buccaneer
Film · 1938
Hunted Men
Film · 1938
Hit the Saddle
Film · 1937
Jungle Jim
Film · 1937
Borderland
Film · 1937
Empty Holsters
Film · 1937
Heart of the Rockies
Film · 1937
Rough Riding Rhythm
Film · 1937
Prairie Thunder
Film · 1937
Slave Ship
Film · 1937
She Had to Eat
Film · 1937
Silverspurs
Film · 1936
Guns and Guitars
Film · 1936
Stampede
Film · 1936
Secret Patrol
Film · 1936
Fury and the Woman
Film · 1936
Robin Hood of El Dorado
Film · 1936
Ride 'Em Cowboy
Film · 1936
The Three Mesquiteers
Film · 1936
Sinner Take All
Film · 1936
The Accusing Finger
Film · 1936
The Prisoner of Shark Island
Film · 1936
The Silent Code
Film · 1935
Mississippi
Film · 1935
The Call of the Savage
Film · 1935
Bar 20 Rides Again
Film · 1935
Murder in the Fleet
Film · 1935
The Outlaw Tamer
Film · 1935
Whispering Smith Speaks
Film · 1935
Border Brigands
Film · 1935
Diamond Jim
Film · 1935
Rustlers of Red Dog
Film · 1935
East of Java
Film · 1935
Les Misérables
Film · 1935
When Lightning Strikes
Film · 1934
No More Women
Film · 1934
The Red Rider
Film · 1934
Wagon Wheels
Film · 1934
Somewhere in Sonora
Film · 1933
Lawless Valley
Film · 1932
Flaming Gold
Film · 1932
Quick Trigger Lee
Film · 1931
Covered Wagon Trails
Film · 1930
The Canyon of Missing Men
Film · 1930
Breezy Bill
Film · 1930
O'Malley Rides Alone
Film · 1930
'Neath Western Skies
Film · 1929
Plunging Hoofs
Film · 1929
A Texas Cowboy
Film · 1929
The Invaders
Film · 1929
The Lawless Legion
Film · 1929
Señor Americano
Film · 1929
The Last Roundup
Film · 1929
Headin' Westward
Film · 1929
The Cowboy and the Outlaw
Film · 1929
Below the Deadline
Film · 1929
The Fighting Terror
Film · 1929
The Law of the Plains
Film · 1929
The Oklahoma Kid
Film · 1929
Pioneers of the West
Film · 1929
Bad Men's Money
Film · 1929
Arizona Days
Film · 1928
Two Outlaws
Film · 1928
The Chinatown Mystery
Film · 1928
Dugan of the Dugouts
Film · 1928
The Code of the Scarlet
Film · 1928
Ships of the Night
Film · 1928
The Black Ace
Film · 1928
The Devil’s Tower
Film · 1928
The Lightnin’ Shot
Film · 1928
The Old Code
Film · 1928
The Red Raiders
Film · 1927
Gun Gospel
Film · 1927
The Royal American
Film · 1927
Arizona Nights
Film · 1927
Red Signals
Film · 1927
The Lost Limited
Film · 1927
The Slaver
Film · 1927
Perils of the Rail
Film · 1926
Senor Daredevil
Film · 1926
The Lost Express
Film · 1926
Crack O' Dawn
Film · 1926
Moran of the Mounted
Film · 1926
The Fast Freight
Film · 1925
Outwitted
Film · 1925
Barriers of the Law
Film · 1925
The Patent Leather Pug
Film · 1925
Duped
Film · 1925
Red Blood
Film · 1925
The Whipping Boss
Film · 1924
Crossed Trails
Film · 1924
Baffled
Film · 1924
A Two Fisted Tenderfoot
Film · 1924
Stormy Seas
Film · 1923
Hills of Missing Men
Film · 1922
Do or Die
Film · 1921
Cold Steel
Film · 1921
King of the Circus
Film · 1920
Elmo the Fearless
Film · 1920
The Railroad Raiders
Film · 1917
The Hazards of Helen
Film · 1917
Whispering Smith
Film · 1916
Medicine Bend
Film · 1916
The Girl Telegrapher's Peril
Film · 1915
The Railroad Raiders of '62
Film · 1915
The Broken Train
Film · 1915
A Railroader's Bravery
Film · 1915
The Broken Rail
Film · 1915
The Mettle of Jerry McGuire
Film · 1915
A Desperate Leap
Film · 1915
The Girl and the Game
Film · 1915
The Leap from the Water Tower
Film · 1915
The Flying Freight's Captive
Film · 1914
The Black Diamond Express
Film · 1914
The Escape on the Limited
Film · 1914
Helen's Sacrifice
Film · 1914
His Nemesis
Film · 1914
Kaintucky Bill
Film · 1914
The Wives of Jamestown
Film · 1913
Dust of the Desert
Film · 1912
An Arabian Tragedy
Film · 1912
The Poacher's Pardon
Film · 1912
The Little Gluers
Film · 1912
Ireland, the Oppressed
Film · 1912
The Shaughraun
Film · 1912
From the Manger to the Cross
Film · 1912
Captured by Bedouins
Film · 1912
Winning a Widow
Film · 1912
His Mother
Film · 1912
Tragedy of the Desert
Film · 1912
Far from Erin's Isle
Film · 1912
Vagabonds
Film · 1912
The Mayor from Ireland
Film · 1912
The Grit of the Girl Telegrapher
Film · 1912
Railroad Raiders of '62
Film · 1911
Slim Jim's Last Chance
Film · 1911
By a Woman's Wit
Film · 1911
When the Dead Return
Film · 1911
The Colleen Bawn
Film · 1911
The Fiddler’s Requiem
Film · 1911
Rory O'More
Film · 1911
A Sawmill Hero
Film · 1911
The Special Messenger
Film · 1911
The Fishermaid of Ballydavid
Film · 1911
The Lad from Old Ireland
Film · 1910
When Lovers Part
Film · 1910
Danger Quest
Film