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.
152 movies
Savage Fury
1956·7.0
The Lady and the Bandit
1951·6.8
Stagecoach
1939·7.6
Code of the Fearless
1939·4.7
The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
1938·9.0
Kidnapped
1938·6.0
Hunted Men
1938·5.7
The Buccaneer
1938·6.4
Prairie Thunder
1937·4.3
Heart of the Rockies
1937·8.0
Rough Riding Rhythm
1937·9.0
Empty Holsters
1937·8.0
She Had to Eat
1937·5.6
Slave Ship
1937·5.1
Hit the Saddle
1937·6.0
Borderland
1937·7.5
Jungle Jim
1937·5.4
Sinner Take All
1936·4.9
Stampede
1936·9.0
The Accusing Finger
1936·5.8
Fury and the Woman
1936·7.0
The Three Mesquiteers
1936·7.0
Ride 'Em Cowboy
1936·10.0
Guns and Guitars
1936·5.8
Secret Patrol
1936·9.0
Robin Hood of El Dorado
1936·5.2
The Prisoner of Shark Island
1936·6.9
Silverspurs
1936·10.0
Bar 20 Rides Again
1935·6.7
East of Java
1935·7.5
The Silent Code
1935·6.5
Diamond Jim
1935·6.5
Border Brigands
1935·7.0
Murder in the Fleet
1935·6.6
Whispering Smith Speaks
1935·10.0
Les Misérables
1935·7.1
The Call of the Savage
1935·6.0
Mississippi
1935·6.8
The Outlaw Tamer
1935·9.0
Rustlers of Red Dog
1935·8.5
When Lightning Strikes
1934·7.5
Wagon Wheels
1934·5.1
The Red Rider
1934·7.0
No More Women
1934·4.8
Somewhere in Sonora
1933·5.1
Flaming Gold
1932·6.2
Lawless Valley
1932·4.5
Quick Trigger Lee
1931·8.0
The Canyon of Missing Men
1930·9.0
Covered Wagon Trails
1930·10.0
Breezy Bill
1930·10.0
O'Malley Rides Alone
1930·10.0
A Texas Cowboy
1929·7.0
Señor Americano
1929·7.0
The Oklahoma Kid
1929·7.0
Pioneers of the West
1929·9.0
The Invaders
1929·7.0
The Cowboy and the Outlaw
1929·8.0
The Law of the Plains
1929·9.0
The Fighting Terror
1929·8.0
The Last Roundup
1929·7.0
Plunging Hoofs
1929·8.0
Bad Men's Money
1929·10.0
The Lawless Legion
1929·9.0
Headin' Westward
1929·8.0
Below the Deadline
1929·4.0
'Neath Western Skies
1929·8.0
Ships of the Night
1928·8.0
Two Outlaws
1928·9.0
The Old Code
1928·0.0
The Lightnin’ Shot
1928·7.0
The Black Ace
1928·10.0
The Chinatown Mystery
1928·9.0
Arizona Days
1928·3.7
The Code of the Scarlet
1928·10.0
The Devil’s Tower
1928·5.5
Dugan of the Dugouts
1928·7.0
The Slaver
1927·10.0
Gun Gospel
1927·10.0
The Red Raiders
1927·8.0
Arizona Nights
1927·9.0
The Royal American
1927·8.0
The Lost Limited
1927·8.0
Red Signals
1927·9.0
Perils of the Rail
1926·7.5
Crack O' Dawn
1926·6.0
The Lost Express
1926·9.0
Moran of the Mounted
1926·7.0
Senor Daredevil
1926·10.0
The Patent Leather Pug
1925·8.0
The Fast Freight
1925·4.5
Red Blood
1925·3.0
Duped
1925·8.0
Barriers of the Law
1925·9.0
Outwitted
1925·8.0
Crossed Trails
1924·10.0
A Two Fisted Tenderfoot
1924·8.0
The Whipping Boss
1924·7.0
Baffled
1924·8.0
Stormy Seas
1923·8.0
Hills of Missing Men
1922·10.0
Cold Steel
1921·0.0
Do or Die
1921·8.0
King of the Circus
1920·8.0
Elmo the Fearless
1920·8.0
The Railroad Raiders
1917·0.0
The Hazards of Helen
1917·0.0
Medicine Bend
1916·0.0
Whispering Smith
1916·0.0
A Desperate Leap
1915·10.0
The Mettle of Jerry McGuire
1915·7.0
The Broken Rail
1915·0.0
A Railroader's Bravery
1915·0.0
The Broken Train
1915·0.0
The Railroad Raiders of '62
1915·0.0
The Leap from the Water Tower
1915·0.0
The Girl Telegrapher's Peril
1915·0.0
The Girl and the Game
1915·0.0
The Escape on the Limited
1914·0.0
The Black Diamond Express
1914·0.0
The Flying Freight's Captive
1914·0.0
His Nemesis
1914·10.0
Helen's Sacrifice
1914·0.0
Kaintucky Bill
1914·8.0
The Wives of Jamestown
1913·0.0
The Shaughraun
1912·7.0
Ireland, the Oppressed
1912·10.0
The Mayor from Ireland
1912·0.0
The Little Gluers
1912·9.0
From the Manger to the Cross
1912·5.1
The Poacher's Pardon
1912·7.0
The Grit of the Girl Telegrapher
1912·10.0
Winning a Widow
1912·8.0
Tragedy of the Desert
1912·9.0
Captured by Bedouins
1912·10.0
An Arabian Tragedy
1912·7.0
Dust of the Desert
1912·0.0
Far from Erin's Isle
1912·0.0
Vagabonds
1912·0.0
His Mother
1912·5.5
The Fishermaid of Ballydavid
1911·0.0
The Colleen Bawn
1911·7.4
Rory O'More
1911·5.2
The Special Messenger
1911·8.0
Railroad Raiders of '62
1911·5.0
When the Dead Return
1911·0.0
The Fiddler’s Requiem
1911·7.0
Slim Jim's Last Chance
1911·6.0
By a Woman's Wit
1911·6.7
A Sawmill Hero
1911·0.0
When Lovers Part
1910·4.0
The Lad from Old Ireland
1910·5.4