Born in Winthrop, Massachusetts. A graduate of Harvard, he was a drama critic and also a stage producer with Eugene O'Neill's Provincetown Playhouse before going to Hollywood as a story editor for RKO. From 1932 he produced many fine films for RKO, Fox and other studios, after being nominally credited as an associate producer, including LITTLE WOMEN (1933), ANNE OF GREEN GABLES (1934), BECKY SHARP and KING OF BURLESQUE (both 1935), LLOYD'S OF LONDON (1936), IN OLD CHICAGO (1937), THE STORY OF ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL, YOUNG MR. LINCOLN and STANLEY AND LIVINGSTONE (all 1939), STAR DUST, BRIGHAM YOUNG - FRONTIERSMAN, TIN PAN ALLEY and THE RETURN OF FRANK JAMES (all 1940), HUDSON'S BAY and BELLE STARR (both 1941), HAPPY LAND (1943), LIFEBOAT and JANE EYRE (both 1944) and EASY COME, EASY GO (1947). He retired from film activity in 1947 to become founding chairman of the Department of Theater Arts at UCLA. MacGowan wrote several books on drama and film, including Behind the Screen, a lively history of motion pictures.  Nominated for Best Picture 1932-33: LITTLE WOMEN - Associate Producer at RKO Radio (w. David O. Selznick & Merian C. Cooper)  Short Subjects (Novelty) 1934: LA CUCARACHA - Producer at RKO Radio  Nominated for Best Picture 1937: IN OLD CHICAGO - Associate Producer at 20th Century-Fox (w. Darryl F. Zanuck) 3 nominations, 1 Award