author
Kenneth Macgowan
1888–1963
A theater pioneer who helped shape modern American stagecraft and later made his mark in Hollywood, he moved easily between criticism, production, and scholarship. His books draw on first-hand experience in both Broadway and film, making them especially vivid for readers interested in performance history.
2 Audiobooks
Continental stagecraft
by Kenneth Macgowan
Early Man in the New World
by Kenneth Macgowan, Joseph A. Hester
About the author
Born in Winthrop, Massachusetts, on November 30, 1888, Kenneth Macgowan built a remarkably varied career as a writer, critic, producer, and teacher. He began as a drama critic and became closely involved with experimental theater in New York, working with figures including Eugene O'Neill and Robert Edmond Jones. His early books on modern theater grew out of that hands-on involvement and helped introduce readers to new ideas in stagecraft and dramatic production.
Macgowan later moved into film production in Hollywood, working at major studios and earning an Academy Award for La Cucaracha (1934), noted as an early live-action short made in the three-strip Technicolor process. Alongside his studio work, he continued writing about theater and film, bringing a practical insider's view to his histories and criticism.
In the later part of his career, he also taught at UCLA and became an important figure in theater education there. He died in Los Angeles on April 27, 1963, leaving behind a body of work that connects the worlds of criticism, creative production, and teaching.