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Kenneth Macgowan(1888-1963)

  • Producer
  • Writer
  • Additional Crew
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Kenneth Macgowan was a theatrical producer who headed the Provincetown Playhouse in the 1920s with Eugene O'Neill, his close friend and Robert Edmond Jones. He produced plays on Broadway, giving Katherine Hepburn her first role. He moved out to Hollywood in the early 1930s, working for RKO, Twentieth Century Fox and Paramount Pictures. He produced the first full-length color film, Becky Sharp. His last film was a documentary was "Maya Through the Ages." He left Hollywood to found the first theatre and film school at UCLA in 1947. Throughout his lifetime, he wrote a dozen books on theatre, film and anthropology.
BornNovember 30, 1888
DiedApril 27, 1963(74)
BornNovember 30, 1888
DiedApril 27, 1963(74)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Add photos, demo reels
  • Won 1 Oscar
    • 2 wins total

Known for

Lifeboat (1944)
Lifeboat
7.6
  • Producer
  • 1944
Katharine Hepburn, Joan Bennett, Frances Dee, and Jean Parker in Little Women (1933)
Little Women
7.1
  • Producer
  • 1933
La Cucaracha (1934)
La Cucaracha
5.7
Short
  • Producer
  • 1934
Tyrone Power, Don Ameche, and Alice Faye in In Old Chicago (1938)
In Old Chicago
6.7
  • Producer
  • 1938

Credits

IMDbPro

Producer



  • The Maya Through the Ages
    Short
    • producer
    • 1950
  • Barry Fitzgerald, Dick Foran, Allen Jenkins, John Litel, Diana Lynn, Frank McHugh, and Sonny Tufts in Easy Come, Easy Go (1947)
    Easy Come, Easy Go
    6.7
    • producer
    • 1947
  • Lifeboat (1944)
    Lifeboat
    7.6
    • producer
    • 1944
  • Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles in Jane Eyre (1943)
    Jane Eyre
    7.4
    • producer (uncredited)
    • 1943
  • Don Ameche, Harry Carey, Frances Dee, Ann Rutherford, and Cara Williams in Happy Land (1943)
    Happy Land
    6.7
    • producer
    • 1943
  • Belle Starr (1941)
    Belle Starr
    5.7
    • producer
    • 1941
  • Joan Bennett, George Sanders, and Walter Pidgeon in Man Hunt (1941)
    Man Hunt
    7.1
    • associate producer
    • 1941
  • Cesar Romero, Alice Faye, Jack Oakie, John Payne, and The Ink Spots in The Great American Broadcast (1941)
    The Great American Broadcast
    6.6
    • associate producer
    • 1941
  • Hudson's Bay (1940)
    Hudson's Bay
    6.2
    • associate producer
    • 1940
  • Betty Grable, Alice Faye, Jack Oakie, and John Payne in Tin Pan Alley (1940)
    Tin Pan Alley
    6.3
    • associate producer
    • 1940
  • Tyrone Power, Mary Astor, Linda Darnell, and Dean Jagger in Brigham Young (1940)
    Brigham Young
    6.3
    • associate producer
    • 1940
  • The Return of Frank James (1940)
    The Return of Frank James
    6.6
    • associate producer
    • 1940
  • Linda Darnell in Star Dust (1940)
    Star Dust
    6.6
    • producer
    • 1940
  • Don Ameche, Hall Johnson Choir, Al Jolson, and Andrea Leeds in Swanee River (1939)
    Swanee River
    6.1
    • associate producer
    • 1939
  • Spencer Tracy in Stanley and Livingstone (1939)
    Stanley and Livingstone
    7.0
    • associate producer
    • 1939

Writer



  • Mae Marsh in The Beloved Traitor (1918)
    The Beloved Traitor
    • titles (as Kenneth McGowan)
    • 1918

Additional Crew



  • High Over the Borders (1942)
    High Over the Borders
    6.1
    Short
    • advisor
    • 1942

Personal details

  • Alternative names
    • Kenneth MacGowan
  • Height
    • 5′ 11½″ (1.82 m)
  • Born
    • November 30, 1888
    • Winthrop, Massachusetts, USA
  • Died
    • April 27, 1963
    • West Los Angeles, California, USA(undisclosed)
  • Spouse
    • Edna Behre
  • Other works
    Book: "Behind the Screen: The History and Techniques of the Motion Picture"
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Interview
    • 3 Articles

Did you know

  • Trivia
    He was a great champion of the plays of Eugene O'Neill.

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