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Robert F. McGowan was born in Denver, Colorado, with aspirations of becoming the next Thomas A. Edison. When his attempts at inventing failed to bring success or recognition, he became a fireman, serving with the Denver Fire Department until a severe injury at age 30 nearly cost him a leg. During the early 1900s in Denver, he developed a fascination with movies after watching nickelodeons and early feature films. Unable to return to firefighting but supported by a small disability pension and confident in his vision, he moved to Hollywood in 1913.
However, McGowan lacked the experience and connections needed for instant success. He began as a low-level assistant to a property man and wrote comedy scenarios in his free time, eventually selling some to Universal. His work naturally progressed to directing, and he formed a lifelong friendship with director-producer-actor Charley Chase (born Parrott), who played a key role in advancing his career. After collaborating on a single child-centered comedy short, Chase recommended McGowan to producer Hal Roach in 1922 as the ideal director for the "Our Gang" series Roach was developing. At the time, Roach was concluding his long and successful partnership with comedian Harold Lloyd, and McGowan’s arrival came at a perfect moment. "Our Gang" filled the gap left by Lloyd’s departure, achieving widespread fame and revenue. Roach and McGowan established the series’ foundation, which resonated globally. McGowan became not only Roach’s trusted collaborator but likely his closest friend. With Roach’s growing studio demands preventing him from directing, McGowan was the perfect choice to lead their most valuable project.
McGowan became nearly as identified with "Our Gang" as Roach himself. Together, they generated a distinctive energy, producing some of the finest comedy shorts of the 1920s and early 1930s. Known affectionately as "Uncle Bob," McGowan brought warmth and a remarkable ability to connect with his young, often pre-literate cast—a challenge that became more pronounced with the advent of sound films. He remained the principal director until 1933’s Wild Poses, when directing duties shifted to Gus Meins, a talented but more conventional filmmaker.
By 1933, the pressures of managing demanding stage parents and the relentless effort to surpass his own work had taken their toll on McGowan. He returned briefly in 1936 to direct the acclaimed two-reeler Divot Diggers before gradually stepping back from full-time work, taking on lighter projects mostly at Paramount and Monogram, with a brief return to Roach in 1946, retiring at age 51.
McGowan came from a close-knit family and greatly admired his older brother, who had cared for him during his recovery. His brother named his son after him—Robert A. McGowan—who followed him to Hollywood in the early 1920s. This nephew adopted the professional name Anthony Mack and served as a substitute director for his uncle during the 1920s and early 1930s, also holding various roles at the Roach studio. Unfortunately for the "Our Gang" series, Anthony Mack was a far less skilled director and an even poorer screenwriter (reverting to his birth name after McGowan’s retirement) when MGM took over the series in 1937. He, along with co-writer Hal Law, was largely responsible for the increasingly disappointing MGM "Our Gang" shorts from a script standpoint. Ironically, both uncle and nephew passed away within months of each other in 1955.
