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J.P. McGowan
Acting
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 ev…
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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.
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BODY OF WORK
J.P. McGowan's Filmography
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Savage Fury
as Ship's Captain
The Lady and the Bandit
as Old Man
Stagecoach
as Bit Part (uncredited)
Code of the Fearless
as Undetermined Minor Role
The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
as Scudder
Hunted Men
as Cop
Kidnapped
as Clansman
The Buccaneer
as Jailer
Prairie Thunder
as Col. Stanton
Heart of the Rockies
as Ed Dawson
Rough Riding Rhythm
as Pete Hobart
Empty Holsters
as U.S. Marshal Billy O'Neill
She Had to Eat
as Police Sergeant (uncredited)
Slave Ship
as Helmsman
Hit the Saddle
as Rance McGowan
Borderland
as El Rio Sheriff
Jungle Jim
as Ship Captain J.S. Robinson
Sinner Take All
as Police Officer Murphy (uncredited)
Stampede
as Matt Stevens
The Accusing Finger
as Inner Guard
Fury and the Woman
as Anderson
The Three Mesquiteers
as Brack Canfield
Ride 'Em Cowboy
as Jim Howard
Guns and Guitars
as Dave Morgan
Secret Patrol
as Blacksmith Barstow
Robin Hood of El Dorado
as Danglong
The Prisoner of Shark Island
as Ship's Captain (uncredited)
Silverspurs
as Webb Allison
Bar 20 Rides Again
as Buck Peters
East of Java
as Sergeant, Rescue Party
The Silent Code
as Commissioner
Diamond Jim
as Engineer
Border Brigands
as Inspector Winston - RCMP
Murder in the Fleet
as Chief of Police (Uncredited)
Whispering Smith Speaks
as Caboose Passenger (uncredited)
Les Misérables
as Javert's Plainclothesman
The Call of the Savage
as Freighter Captain
Mississippi
as Dealer (uncredited)
The Outlaw Tamer
as Sheriff Jim Porter
Rustlers of Red Dog
as Capt. Trent [Chs. 3-4]
When Lightning Strikes
as Lafe Broderick
Wagon Wheels
as Couch
The Red Rider
as Scotty McKee
No More Women
as Captain of The Hawk
Somewhere in Sonora
as Monte Black
Flaming Gold
as Mack
Lawless Valley
as Big Mike Carter, aka El Lobo, aka Texas Rand
Quick Trigger Lee
as Brings note / Director
The Canyon of Missing Men
as Slug Sagel
No Poster
Covered Wagon Trails
No Poster
Breezy Bill
as Sheriff
O'Malley Rides Alone
as Angus McGregor
A Texas Cowboy
as Brute Kettle
Señor Americano
as Maddox
Pioneers of the West
as Tom Dorgan
The Oklahoma Kid
No Poster
The Invaders
The Cowboy and the Outlaw
as Pepper Hardcastle
The Law of the Plains
as Seagrue
The Fighting Terror
The Last Roundup
as Hash
Plunging Hoofs
as Jim Wales
Bad Men's Money
as Sheriff Bud Jennings
The Lawless Legion
as Matson
Headin' Westward
as Sneezer Clark
Below the Deadline
as Taggart
'Neath Western Skies
as Dugan
Ships of the Night
as Motilla
Two Outlaws
as Abner Whitcomb
No Poster
The Old Code
as Raoul de Valle
No Poster
The Lightnin’ Shot
The Black Ace
The Chinatown Mystery
No Poster
Arizona Days
as Ed Hicks
The Code of the Scarlet
as Blake
No Poster
The Devil’s Tower
as George Stilwell
No Poster
Dugan of the Dugouts
as Capt. von Brinken
No Poster
The Slaver
as ’Iron' Larsen
Gun Gospel
as Bill Brogan
The Red Raiders
as Captain Ortwell
Arizona Nights
as Jeff Decker
No Poster
The Royal American
as Capt. Burke
No Poster
The Lost Limited
as Thomas Webber
Red Signals
as Jim Twyler
Perils of the Rail
as Barker's Accomplice at Smelter Junction
Crack O' Dawn
as Earle Thorpe Sr.
The Lost Express
as Train Engineer
Moran of the Mounted
as Sgt. Churchill
Senor Daredevil
as Jesse Wilks
The Patent Leather Pug
as James Curtis
Red Blood
as Eagle Custer
The Fast Freight
Duped
as 'Hard Rock' Ralston
Barriers of the Law
as Steve Redding
Outwitted
as Tiger McGuire
Crossed Trails
as 'Pepper' Baldwin
A Two Fisted Tenderfoot
as Stephen Lawlor
No Poster
The Whipping Boss
as Livingston
Baffled
as Jack Norton
Stormy Seas
as Capt. Morgan
Hills of Missing Men
as Capt. Brandt / The Dragon
Cold Steel
as Steele Weir
Do or Die
as Capt. Alvarez / Satan
King of the Circus
Elmo the Fearless
The Railroad Raiders
as Thomas Desmond
The Hazards of Helen
as Various roles
Medicine Bend
as Whispering Smith
Whispering Smith
as Whispering Smith
No Poster
A Desperate Leap
The Mettle of Jerry McGuire
as Jerry McGuire
The Broken Rail
as Trow - of the Working Crew
A Railroader's Bravery
as Thomas - the Chief of the Gang
The Broken Train
as Warren - Railroad Employee
The Railroad Raiders of '62
as Lockwood - the old one-armed Flagman
The Leap from the Water Tower
as Rand - the Fireman
The Girl and the Game
as Spike
The Girl Telegrapher's Peril
as Blake - a Lineman
The Escape on the Limited
as Brandt - a Defaulting Cashier
The Black Diamond Express
as Dan Haddon - a Cowboy
The Flying Freight's Captive
as Rand - a Yeggman
His Nemesis
as Mammoth - Manning's Business Rival
Helen's Sacrifice
as Benton
No Poster
Kaintucky Bill
as Kaintucky Bill - a Moonshiner
The Wives of Jamestown
as The O’Rourke
No Poster
The Shaughraun
as Corry Kinchela
Ireland, the Oppressed
as Lord Kilhannack
No Poster
The Mayor from Ireland
as Shamus Foley
The Little Gluers
as Valentine Hay
From the Manger to the Cross
as Wise Man 1
The Poacher's Pardon
as Mr. Wallace - the Gamekeeper
The Grit of the Girl Telegrapher
Winning a Widow
Tragedy of the Desert
as The Arab Sheik
Captured by Bedouins
as Lt. Greig
An Arabian Tragedy
Dust of the Desert
as Sheik Mohammad
Far from Erin's Isle
No Poster
Vagabonds
as Big Jim
His Mother
as John Foster
No Poster
The Fishermaid of Ballydavid
as Policeman
The Colleen Bawn
as Hardress Cregan
Rory O'More
as Commander of the English troops
No Poster
The Special Messenger
as Royal
Railroad Raiders of '62
as Federal Officer
When the Dead Return
as Jacques
No Poster
The Fiddler’s Requiem
as Dolores' father
No Poster
Slim Jim's Last Chance
as The Rancher
By a Woman's Wit
No Poster
A Sawmill Hero
No Poster
When Lovers Part
The Lad from Old Ireland
as Election Agent
No Poster
Danger Quest
as Col. Spiffy