Robert Anthony McGowan (May 22, 1901 - June 20, 1955) was an American screenwriter and film director.
Biography
Born in Denver, Colorado, McGowan is best known as a junior director for the Our Gang short subjects film series from 1926 to 1930, and as the co-writer of the series during the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer period from 1938 to 1944. McGowan was named for his uncle, Our Gang senior director Robert F. McGowan. Since both Robert McGowans worked on the series, Robert Anthony McGowan was usually credited as Anthony Mack.
While McGowan directed a number of Our Gang entries in the late-1920s, his work is considered lesser than that of his uncle. He appears on-screen in the 1932 short Free Wheeling, in which he is socked by a boxing glove attached to the kids' makeshift taxi.
McGowan married Madeline Rosselle, the daughter of a choreographer, and had two children. His career came to an end during the Communist "witch hunt" era of the late-1940s, during which he was blacklisted for associating with blacklisted screenwriters. He died in Los Angeles, California on June 20, 1955, six months after his uncle, at the age of 54. Mickie McGowan, one of McGowan's two daughters, is currently searching for her relatives, as McGowan's personal memorabilia was destroyed.
Director filmography
These are the Our Gang shorts that McGowan directed:
- Shivering Shakespeare (1930)
- Cat, Dog, & Co. (1929)
- Boxing Gloves (1929)
- The Holy Terror (1929)
- Election Day (1929)
- Old Gray Hoss (1928)
- Growing Pains (1928)
- School Begins (1928)
- Edison, Marconi & Co. (1928)
- Rainy Days (1928)
- Playin' Hookey (1928)
- Dog Heaven (1927)
- Heebee Jeebees (1927)
- Chicken Feed (1927)
- Olympic Games (1927)
- Tired Business Men (1927)
- Ten Years Old (1927)
- Bring Home the Turkey (1927)
- Telling Whoppers (1926)
- War Feathers (1926)
External links
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