
Acting
Born February 23, 1880 · Terowie, Australia
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.

Where the West Begins
1938

Roaring Six Guns
1937

Rough Riding Rhythm
1937

The Outlaw Tamer
1935

War of the Range
1933

Deadwood Pass
1933

Drum Taps
1933

When a Man Rides Alone
1933

The Hurricane Express
1932

The Scarlet Brand
1932

Tangled Fortunes
1932

Lawless Valley
1932

Mark of the Spur
1932

Human Targets
1932

Quick Trigger Lee
1931

Shotgun Pass
1931

Headin' for Trouble
1931

So This Is Arizona
1931

Riders of the North
1931

Under Texas Skies
1930

Code of Honor
1930
Beyond the Law
1930

Canyon Hawks
1930

The Oklahoma Sheriff
1930

Near the Rainbow's End
1930

The Canyon of Missing Men
1930
Western Honor
1930
The Man from Nowhere
1930

The Hunted Men
1930
Call of the Desert
1930
Covered Wagon Trails
1930
Breezy Bill
1930

O'Malley Rides Alone
1930

A Texas Cowboy
1929

Code of the West
1929

The Oklahoma Kid
1929

Pioneers of the West
1929
The Invaders
1929

The Cowboy and the Outlaw
1929
Riders of the Rio Grande
1929

The Law of the Plains
1929

The Fighting Terror
1929

The Man from Nevada
1929

The Last Roundup
1929

Captain Cowboy
1929

Bad Men's Money
1929

Headin' Westward
1929

Below the Deadline
1929

'Neath Western Skies
1929

Manhattan Cowboy
1928

The Chinatown Mystery
1928
Arizona Days
1928

The Outlaw Dog
1927
The Lost Limited
1927

Thunderbolt's Tracks
1927

Tarzan and the Golden Lion
1927

Red Signals
1927

Perils of the Rail
1926

Crossed Signals
1926

Webs of Steel
1925

The Road Agent
1925

The Lost Express
1925

The Ace of Clubs
1925

The Bandit Tamer
1925

The Fast Freight
1925
Ambushed
1925
A Desperate Chance
1925
Mistaken Orders
1925

Cold Nerve
1925

The Fighting Sheriff
1925

Barriers of the Law
1925

Outwitted
1925

Courage
1924

A Desperate Adventure
1924

Crossed Trails
1924

A Two Fisted Tenderfoot
1924
The Whipping Boss
1924

Baffled
1924

Stormy Seas
1923

Perils of the Yukon
1922

Captain Kidd
1922

Hills of Missing Men
1922

Below the Deadline
1921

Tiger True
1921

Do or Die
1921

The Vanishing Dagger
1920

King of the Circus
1920

Elmo the Fearless
1920

The Red Glove
1919

Elmo, the Mighty
1919

The Lure of the Circus
1918

The Lost Express
1917

The Railroad Raiders
1917

The Hazards of Helen
1917

The Manager of the B & A
1916
The Diamond Runners
1916

Judith of the Cumberlands
1916

Medicine Bend
1916

Whispering Smith
1916

A Lass of the Lumberlands
1916
When Rogues Fall Out
1915
A Desperate Leap
1915

The Mettle of Jerry McGuire
1915

Blackbirds
1915

The Girl on the Engine
1915

A Deed of Daring
1915

The Fate of Number One
1915

A Wild Ride
1915

The Midnight Limited
1915

In Danger's Path
1915

Near Eternity
1915

The Pay Train
1915

The Human Chain
1915

A Railroader's Bravery
1915

The Broken Train
1915

The Hazards of Helen Ep26: The Wild Engine
1915

The Box Car Trap
1915

A Race for a Crossing
1915

The Girl Engineer
1915

The Girl on the Trestle
1915

A Life in the Balance
1915

The Girl at Lone Point
1915

The Railroad Raiders of '62
1915

The Death Train
1915

The Open Drawbridge
1915

The Engineer's Peril
1915

The Little Engineer
1915

The Fast Mail's Danger
1915

The Broken Circuit
1915

The Leap from the Water Tower
1915

The Girl Telegrapher's Peril
1915

The Girl and the Game
1915

The Escape on the Limited
1914

The Black Diamond Express
1914

The Flying Freight's Captive
1914

The Stolen Engine
1914

The Girl at the Throttle
1914

The Plot at the Railroad Cut
1914

His Nemesis
1914

Helen's Sacrifice
1914

The Lost Mail Sack
1914
The Car of Death
1914
The Operator at Black Rock
1914
Kaintucky Bill
1914

The Flaw in the Alibi
1914
A String of Pearls
1914

The Pursuit of the Smugglers
1913
A Sawmill Hazard
1913
The Grit of the Girl Telegrapher
1912

Savage Fury
1956

The Lady and the Bandit
1951

Stagecoach
1939

Code of the Fearless
1939

The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
1938

Kidnapped
1938

Hunted Men
1938

The Buccaneer
1938

Prairie Thunder
1937

Heart of the Rockies
1937

Rough Riding Rhythm
1937

Empty Holsters
1937

She Had to Eat
1937

Slave Ship
1937

Hit the Saddle
1937

Borderland
1937

Jungle Jim
1937

Sinner Take All
1936

Stampede
1936

The Accusing Finger
1936

Fury and the Woman
1936

The Three Mesquiteers
1936

Ride 'Em Cowboy
1936

Guns and Guitars
1936

Secret Patrol
1936

Robin Hood of El Dorado
1936

The Prisoner of Shark Island
1936

Silver Spurs
1936

Bar 20 Rides Again
1935

East of Java
1935