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
342
Male
1880-02-23
Terowie, Australia
John Paterson McGowan
Covered Wagon Trails
The Canyon of Missing Men
Arizona Days
'Neath Western Skies
The Hazards of Helen
The Railroad Raiders
Two Outlaws
Plunging Hoofs
Stormy Seas
Breezy Bill
A Texas Cowboy
The Invaders
When Lightning Strikes
No More Women
Perils of the Rail
Silverspurs
Whispering Smith
Somewhere in Sonora
The Fast Freight
Dust of the Desert
The Poacher's Pardon
An Arabian Tragedy
The Little Gluers
Ireland, the Oppressed
The Shaughraun
King of the Circus
Do or Die
The Chinatown Mystery
The Flying Freight's Captive
The Black Diamond Express
The Escape on the Limited
The Girl Telegrapher's Peril
The Railroad Raiders of '62
Helen's Sacrifice
The Broken Train
His Nemesis
A Railroader's Bravery
The Broken Rail
The Mettle of Jerry McGuire
Medicine Bend
A Desperate Leap
Hit the Saddle
Guns and Guitars
Elmo the Fearless
Stampede
Secret Patrol
The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
Railroad Raiders of '62
Jungle Jim
Kaintucky Bill
Lawless Valley
The Girl and the Game
Dugan of the Dugouts
Hills of Missing Men
Senor Daredevil
The Red Raiders
The Code of the Scarlet
Gun Gospel
The Lawless Legion
Señor Americano
The Royal American
The Leap from the Water Tower
From the Manger to the Cross
Fury and the Woman
The Silent Code
Ships of the Night
The Last Roundup
Robin Hood of El Dorado
Code of the Fearless
Ride 'Em Cowboy
Borderland
Mississippi
Stagecoach
The Call of the Savage
Bar 20 Rides Again
Murder in the Fleet
The Outlaw Tamer
Kidnapped
Whispering Smith Speaks
Quick Trigger Lee
The Red Rider
Empty Holsters
Slim Jim's Last Chance
Heart of the Rockies
The Three Mesquiteers
Rough Riding Rhythm
By a Woman's Wit
Prairie Thunder
Headin' Westward
Border Brigands
Diamond Jim
Sinner Take All
Rustlers of Red Dog
The Lost Express
Flaming Gold
The Lad from Old Ireland
Slave Ship
The Cowboy and the Outlaw
The Buccaneer
When the Dead Return
Below the Deadline
The Colleen Bawn
The Accusing Finger
The Lady and the Bandit
East of Java
Outwitted
The Fighting Terror
Crack O' Dawn
Barriers of the Law
The Black Ace
The Fiddler’s Requiem
When Lovers Part
Rory O'More
His Mother
A Sawmill Hero
Winning a Widow
Captured by Bedouins
The Oklahoma Kid
The Law of the Plains
Arizona Nights
She Had to Eat
The Special Messenger
The Whipping Boss
Red Signals
O'Malley Rides Alone
Les Misérables
Tragedy of the Desert
Crossed Trails
Baffled
A Two Fisted Tenderfoot
The Wives of Jamestown
Hunted Men
Far from Erin's Isle
Vagabonds
The Fishermaid of Ballydavid
The Mayor from Ireland
The Prisoner of Shark Island
Savage Fury
Pioneers of the West
The Grit of the Girl Telegrapher
Bad Men's Money
Wagon Wheels
The Lost Limited
The Patent Leather Pug
Moran of the Mounted
Danger Quest
The Devil’s Tower
The Lightnin’ Shot
Duped
The Slaver
The Old Code
Cold Steel
Red Blood
A Sawmill Hazard
The Operator at Black Rock
The Death Train
A Deed of Daring
The Plot at the Railroad Cut
The Girl at the Throttle
The Stolen Engine
The Fate of Number One
The Girl on the Engine
The Broken Circuit
The Little Engineer
The Fast Mail's Danger
When Rogues Fall Out
Judith of the Cumberlands
The Engineer's Peril
The Open Drawbridge
The Girl at Lone Point
The Diamond Runners
Riders of the North
The Box Car Trap
The Girl on the Trestle
A Life in the Balance
The Girl Engineer
A Race for a Crossing
The Human Chain
The Midnight Limited
A Wild Ride
Near Eternity
The Lost Mail Sack
The Ace of Clubs
The Hurricane Express
Mark of the Spur
Tiger True
The Scarlet Brand
Roaring Six Guns
Tarzan and the Golden Lion
The Flaw in the Alibi
Drum Taps
When a Man Rides Alone
Under Texas Skies
The Hazards of Helen Ep26: The Wild Engine
Deadwood Pass
In Danger's Path
Perils of the Yukon
Where the West Begins
A Lass of the Lumberlands
The Lost Express
Crossed Signals
Elmo, the Mighty
The Brown Derby
The Pay Train
Canyon Hawks
Code of the West
Tangled Fortunes
The Car of Death
The Code of Honor
The Hunted Men
Western Honor
The Oklahoma Sheriff
The Man from Nowhere
War of the Range
The Outlaw Dog
A Desperate Adventure
What Price Vengeance
The Road Agent
The Lure of the Circus
Mistaken Orders
The Pursuit of the Smugglers
Beyond the Law
The Call of the Desert
Captain Cowboy
Captain Kidd
So This Is Arizona
A String of Pearls
Near the Rainbow's End
Ambushed
Thunderbolt's Tracks
Cold Nerve
Blackbirds
A Desperate Chance
Riders of the Rio Grande
Manhattan Cowboy
The Red Glove
Human Targets
The Manager of the B & A
The Vanishing Dagger
Below the Deadline
Shotgun Pass
Webs of Steel
The Man from Nevada
Headin' for Trouble
The Bandit Tamer
The Fighting Sheriff
Courage
Peggy of the Secret Service
Mystery Valley
Painted Trail
Trail Raiders
Trailin’ Back
The Cyclone Kid
When a Dog Loves
The Lone Bandit