Curiosidades

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.