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