Biography

J.P. McGowan was born on February 24, 1880 in Terowie, South Australia, Australia. He was a director and actor, known for The Lost Express (1917), Hills of Missing Men (1922) and The Hurricane Express (1932). He was married to Mrs. Kaye Swart Northrop, Leona (Lorna) Haviland and Helen Holmes. He died on March 26, 1952 in Hollywood, California, USA.

McGowan fought in the Boer War in South Africa in the early 1900s in the Australian contingent of a British army unit called Montmorency's Scouts. He was a dispatch rider, and on one mission the horse he was riding tumbled over a precipice. The horse was killed and McGowan was severely injured. He wasn't found until some time after the incident, and was hospitalized for more than a year before he recovered from his injuries.

After retiring from acting, he worked as Executive Secretary for the Screen Directors Guild--later the Directors Guild of America--a position he held from 1938 until he retired in 1951, a year before his death. McGowan was made a Life Member of the Guild, the only Australian ever to be so honored by DGA.

Co-founded, with wife Helen Holmes, production company Signal Films.

Began in films as an actor with the Kalem Motion Picture Company in 1909.