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.
Acting (120 movies)
Arizona Days
1928
'Neath Western Skies
1929
The Railroad Raiders
1917
The Hazards of Helen
1917
Two Outlaws
1928
Plunging Hoofs
1929
Stormy Seas
1923
A Texas Cowboy
1929
When Lightning Strikes
1934
No More Women
1934
Perils of the Rail
1926
Silver Spurs
1936
Whispering Smith
1916
Somewhere in Sonora
1933
The Fast Freight
1925
Dust of the Desert
1912
An Arabian Tragedy
1912
The Poacher's Pardon
1912
The Little Gluers
1912
Ireland, the Oppressed
1912
King of the Circus
1920
Do or Die
1921
The Chinatown Mystery
1928
The Flying Freight's Captive
1914
The Black Diamond Express
1914
The Escape on the Limited
1914
The Girl Telegrapher's Peril
1915
The Railroad Raiders of '62
1915
Helen's Sacrifice
1914
His Nemesis
1914
The Broken Train
1915
A Railroader's Bravery
1915
The Broken Rail
1915
The Mettle of Jerry McGuire
1915
Medicine Bend
1916
Hit the Saddle
1937
Guns and Guitars
1936
Elmo the Fearless
1920
Stampede
1936
Secret Patrol
1936
The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
1938
Railroad Raiders of '62
1911
Jungle Jim
1937
Lawless Valley
1932
The Girl and the Game
1915
Hills of Missing Men
1922
Senor Daredevil
1926
The Red Raiders
1927
Gun Gospel
1927
The Code of the Scarlet
1928
The Lawless Legion
1929
Señor Americano
1929
The Leap from the Water Tower
1915
From the Manger to the Cross
1912
Fury and the Woman
1936
The Silent Code
1935
Ships of the Night
1928
The Last Roundup
1929
Robin Hood of El Dorado
1936
Code of the Fearless
1939
Ride 'Em Cowboy
1936
Borderland
1937
Mississippi
1935
Stagecoach
1939
The Call of the Savage
1935
Bar 20 Rides Again
1935
Murder in the Fleet
1935
The Outlaw Tamer
1935
Kidnapped
1938
Whispering Smith Speaks
1935
Quick Trigger Lee
1931
The Red Rider
1934
Empty Holsters
1937
Slim Jim's Last Chance
1911
The Three Mesquiteers
1936
Heart of the Rockies
1937
Rough Riding Rhythm
1937
By a Woman's Wit
1911
Prairie Thunder
1937
Headin' Westward
1929
Border Brigands
1935
Diamond Jim
1935
Sinner Take All
1936
Rustlers of Red Dog
1935
The Lost Express
1925
Flaming Gold
1932
The Lad from Old Ireland
1910
Slave Ship
1937
The Cowboy and the Outlaw
1929
The Buccaneer
1938
When the Dead Return
1911
Below the Deadline
1929
The Colleen Bawn
1911
The Accusing Finger
1936
The Lady and the Bandit
1951
East of Java
1935
Outwitted
1925
The Fighting Terror
1929
Crack O' Dawn
1926
Barriers of the Law
1925
Directing (142 movies)
The Fast Freight
1925
A Sawmill Hazard
1913
The Operator at Black Rock
1914
Arizona Days
1928
The Death Train
1915
A Deed of Daring
1915
Helen's Sacrifice
1914
The Plot at the Railroad Cut
1914
His Nemesis
1914
The Girl at the Throttle
1914
A Railroader's Bravery
1915
The Stolen Engine
1914
The Girl on the Engine
1915
The Fate of Number One
1915
The Flying Freight's Captive
1914
The Black Diamond Express
1914
The Escape on the Limited
1914
The Girl Telegrapher's Peril
1915
The Broken Circuit
1915
The Fast Mail's Danger
1915
The Little Engineer
1915
The Mettle of Jerry McGuire
1915
A Desperate Leap
1915
When Rogues Fall Out
1915
Medicine Bend
1916
Judith of the Cumberlands
1916
The Engineer's Peril
1915
The Open Drawbridge
1915
The Railroad Raiders of '62
1915
The Girl at Lone Point
1915
The Diamond Runners
1916
O'Malley Rides Alone
1930
Riders of the North
1931
A Life in the Balance
1915
The Girl on the Trestle
1915
The Girl Engineer
1915
A Race for a Crossing
1915
The Box Car Trap
1915
The Broken Train
1915
The Human Chain
1915
Near Eternity
1915
The Midnight Limited
1915
A Wild Ride
1915
The Lost Mail Sack
1914
The Ace of Clubs
1925
The Hurricane Express
1932
Mark of the Spur
1932
Tiger True
1921
The Scarlet Brand
1932
Roaring Six Guns
1937
Tarzan and the Golden Lion
1927
The Flaw in the Alibi
1914
Drum Taps
1933
When a Man Rides Alone
1933
Under Texas Skies
1930
The Hazards of Helen Ep26: The Wild Engine
1915
Kaintucky Bill
1914
Deadwood Pass
1933
Lawless Valley
1932
In Danger's Path
1915
Perils of the Yukon
1922
Where the West Begins
1938
The Girl and the Game
1915
King of the Circus
1920
A Lass of the Lumberlands
1916
The Lost Express
1917
Crossed Signals
1926
Hills of Missing Men
1922
Do or Die
1921
Elmo the Fearless
1920
Elmo, the Mighty
1919
The Pay Train
1915
The Leap from the Water Tower
1915
Canyon Hawks
1930
The Last Roundup
1929
Code of the West
1929
Tangled Fortunes
1932
The Car of Death
1914
The Chinatown Mystery
1928
Code of Honor
1930
Stormy Seas
1923
The Oklahoma Sheriff
1930
Western Honor
1930
The Hunted Men
1930
Breezy Bill
1930
The Man from Nowhere
1930
A Texas Cowboy
1929
The Invaders
1929
War of the Range
1933
Rough Riding Rhythm
1937
The Outlaw Tamer
1935
Quick Trigger Lee
1931
The Outlaw Dog
1927
A Desperate Adventure
1924
Perils of the Rail
1926
Whispering Smith
1916
The Road Agent
1925
The Lure of the Circus
1918
Mistaken Orders
1925
The Pursuit of the Smugglers
1913
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|---|---|
| His Nemesis | 1914 | Writer |
| The Girl and the Game | 1915 | Writer |
| A Lass of the Lumberlands | 1916 | Producer |
| Judith of the Cumberlands | 1916 | Producer |
| The Railroad Raiders | 1917 | Producer |
| The Lost Express | 1917 | Writer |
| The Lost Express | 1917 | Producer |
| Hills of Missing Men | 1922 | Writer |
| Outwitted | 1925 | Writer |
| The Brown Derby | 1926 | Writer |
| Dugan of the Dugouts | 1928 | Writer |
| 'Neath Western Skies | 1929 | Producer |
| Captain Cowboy | 1929 | Writer |
| The Man from Nevada | 1929 | Producer |
| O'Malley Rides Alone | 1930 | Producer |
| The Hurricane Express | 1932 | Screenplay |
| Drum Taps | 1933 | Screenplay |
| Secret Patrol | 1936 | Screenplay |
| What Price Vengeance | 1937 | Writer |