Kenneth Macgowan

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Kenneth Macgowan (born November 30, 1888 in Winthrop , Massachusetts , † April 27, 1963 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American film and theater producer.

Life

Kenneth Macgowan began his career as a theater critic . In addition to this activity, he wrote books on modern theater. In 1922 he founded the Provincetown Playhouse in Manhattan , together with his best friend, the playwright and later Nobel Prize for Literature, Eugene O'Neill and Robert Edmond Jones as business partners. Macgowan was the producer who gave Katharine Hepburn her first role.

In 1928 he went to Hollywood . He first worked for RKO Pictures as a story editor . He quickly became a production assistant. Kenneth Macgowan started working as a producer in 1932. Until 1947 he worked in Hollywood, including for 20th Century Fox and Paramount Pictures . In 1935, he produced the first full-length feature film for RKO , which was shot using Technicolor's new 3-color process ( Becky Sharp ).

In 1947 Macgowan left the film industry and went to UCLA . There he got the chair for theater arts. The university's theater building is named after him. He continued to write books on theater and film. The best known is the cinematic history Behind the Screen , which was released in 1965 after his death.

Kenneth Macgowan died on April 27, 1963 in Los Angeles.

Awards

In 1933, Kenneth Macgowan was awarded the Medal of Honor at the Photoplay Awards for the film Four Sisters .

In 1935 he won the Oscar in the Best Short Film (Comedy) category for the film La Cucaracha .

Filmography

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Macgowan, Kenneth
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film and theater producer
DATE OF BIRTH November 30, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Winthrop , Massachusetts , United States
DATE OF DEATH April 27, 1963
Place of death Los Angeles , California , United States