Roxana McGowan (March 15, 1897 – November 22, 1976), born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, was an actress in

Mack Sennett Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American film actor, director, and producer, and studio head, known as the 'King of Comedy'. Born in Danville, Quebec, in 1880, he started in films in the ...

comedies in the

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

era. Her screen career was brief, lasting from 1917–1919.

Movie comic

''Her Screen Idol'' (1918) stars

Ford Sterling Ford Sterling (born George Ford Stich Jr.; November 3, 1883 – October 13, 1939) was an American comedian and actor best known for his work with Keystone Studios. One of the 'Big 4', he was the original chief of the Keystone Cops. Biography ...

and

Louise Fazenda Louise Fazenda (June 17, 1895 – April 17, 1962) was an American film actress, appearing chiefly in silent comedy films. Early life Fazenda was born in her maternal grandparents' house in Lafayette, Indiana, the daughter of merchandise broke ...

. McGowan has fourth billing as ''A Society Daughter''. The comedy is somewhat different than others released previously by Sennett. The motion picture satirizes the matinee idol, the character played by Sterling. He depicts an individual with small vanities who covets adulation. McGowan more than twenty motion picture credits include ''Villa of the Movies'' (1917), ''The Summer Girls'' (1918), ''Two Tough Tenderfeet'' (1918), ''She Loved Him Plenty'' (1918), and ''When Love Is Blind'' (1919). The latter is an uncredited role.

Marriages and family

McGowan's parents were Major and Mrs. L. McGowan.''Film Couple Combine Trip With Honeymoon'',

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

, November 3, 1931, Page A6. McGowan was married to actor and director

Albert Ray Albert Ray (August 28, 1897 – February 5, 1944) was an American film director, actor, and screenwriter. He directed more than 70 films between 1920 and 1939. He also appeared in 18 films between 1915 and 1922. He was born in New Roche ...

in July 1919. In 1931 she wed

John M. Stahl John Malcolm Stahl (January 21, 1886 – January 12, 1950) was an American film director and producer. Life and work He was born Jacob Morris Strelitsky in Baku (Azerbaijan) to a Russian Jewish family. When he was a child, his family le ...

, a noted film director. She had two children by her first marriage, Albert and Roxana. McGowan and Stahl first met at the Tiffany movie studio. Stahl was a former director at

Metro Goldwyn Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

and had been a production organizer when the company was known as Tiffany-Stahl Productions. In 1949 McGowan resided in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. She hosted the wedding of her daughter, Roxana Ray Stahl, when Stahl wed Daniel Steen Fletcher, Jr., in August 1949. The marriage ceremony was conducted at St. Alban's Episcopal Church in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The wedding reception was held in

Bel Air, California Bel Air (or Bel-Air) is a residential neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. Founded in 1923, it is the home of the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden and the American Jewish Universit ...

at the home of John Malcolm Stahl.''Roxana Ray Stahl Becomes Bride of D.S. Fletcher, Jr. in St. Alban's'', August 22, 1949, Page B1. Roxana McGowan died in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

in 1976, of chronic

arteriosclerosis Arteriosclerosis is the thickening, hardening, and loss of elasticity of the walls of Artery, arteries. This process gradually restricts the blood flow to one's organs and tissues and can lead to severe health risks brought on by atherosclerosis ...

Selected filmography

*''

Are Waitresses Safe? Are Waitresses Safe? is a 1917 silent film short comedy starring Louise Fazenda and Ben Turpin. It was produced by Mack Sennett. The film was possibly rereleased in 1923. The film is preserved in the Library of Congress.''Catalog of Holdings The A ...

'' (1917)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGowan, Roxana American film actresses American women comedians American silent film actresses Actresses from Chicago 1897 births 1976 deaths 20th-century American actresses Comedians from Illinois 20th-century American comedians