Robert F. McGowan

Robert Francis McGowan (July 11, 1882 – January 27, 1955) was an American film director and producer, best known as the senior director of the Our Gang short subjects film series from 1922 until 1933.

Career

Before moving to Los Angeles, McGowan was a firefighter in his native Denver. An on-the-job accident during a fire rescue mission left him with a permanent limp.

McGowan moved to California in the 1910s and made the acquaintance of Hal Roach, an aspiring film producer who opened his own studio in 1914. By 1920, McGowan was a director at the Roach studio, and in 1921 began work on the first entries in the Our Gang series.

The Our Gang series was at its most popular and successful under McGowan's direction; when he became ill in the late-1920s and had to turn over the director's chair to nephew Robert A. McGowan (billed as "Anthony Mack" to distinguish himself from his uncle) for two years, the series faltered. McGowan was a natural with kids, and knew how to explain scenes and comic business to his young charges to elicit convincing performances out of them. His favorite Our Gang kids were Allen "Farina" Hoskins, Mary Kornman, Matthew "Stymie" Beard, and George "Spanky" McFarland, whom McGowan declared a "natural".