Thomas Haden Church

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Thomas Haden Church

Thomas Haden Church at the Spider-Man 3 (2007) premiere in New York City
Born Thomas McMillen[1]
June 17, 1960 (1960-06-17) (age 47)[2]
El Paso, Texas
Years active 1990 - present

Thomas Haden Church (born June 17, 1960)[2] is an Emmy Award winning and Academy Award-nominated American film and television actor.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Church, the third of six children,[3] was born Thomas McMillen[1] in El Paso, Texas[2] to an Army officer/health care worker father and a homemaker mother.[2] He was raised under his stepfather's surname, "Quesada", and later changed his surname to "Haden Church" (both names are in his family tree).[1] He was raised in Laredo, Texas and graduated from Harlingen High School, Harlingen, Texas in 1979, going on to attend the University of North Texas

[edit] Career

Church started in the entertainment business as a radio personality and doing voiceover work.[4] A part in an independent film convinced him to move to California to pursue an acting career. He also played the part of dim-witted airport mechanic Lowell Mather for six seasons (1990–1995) on the NBC sitcom Wings. He worked in television for two more seasons with a lead role on Ned and Stacey opposite Debra Messing. He has had supporting roles in films such as Tombstone, George of the Jungle, and The Specials. Church often plays villains or comic relief in films, most evident by turns in Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight and Over the Hedge to name a few.

After having small roles in films such as Monkeybone and 3000 Miles to Graceland, he made his directorial debut Rolling Kansas in 2003. Church later took a break from films and relocated back to his native Texas. He has also done voiceover work in commercials, such as for Merrill Lynch and Icehouse Beer.

In 2003, Alexander Payne called him regarding the role of "Jack" in Sideways, the selfish best friend to Paul Giamatti's character, looking to have one last fling before getting married. During the audition, Church stripped naked to read the audition scene, later saying "To me it was painfully obvious... I was reading the scene where Jack comes in naked and there has to be in-born vulnerability in the scene."[4] (He later found that he was the only actor to strip down for the audition.[5]) Sideways earned acclaim for Church, for which he won an IFP Independent Spirit Award and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

He has since appeared in films such as Idiocracy, done voice-over work on films such as Over the Hedge and starred in one of AMC's highest rated television productions, Broken Trail, with Robert Duvall, in 2006, for which he won an Emmy. In 2007, he appeared as the villain Sandman in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst.

In 2005, he was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[6] On September 16, 2007, he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for his role of Tom Harte on AMC's Broken Trail.

[edit] Personal life

Church resides on his large ranch in Bandera County, Texas,[7] which he bought in 1998.[4] He is a full-time rancher. He is married to Mia Zottoli and has a daughter named Cody.[8] His wife Mia used to be a softcore porn actress and model (her last film came out in 2004).[9]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Awards and nominations

Nominations

[edit] References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
  1. ^ a b c Buck, Jerry. "`Wings' character takes off for Church", Austin American-Statesman, 1992-08-23. Retrieved on 2007-12-10. 
  2. ^ a b c d "Thomas Haden Church Biography (1960-)", Film Reference, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-05-31. 
  3. ^ "Thomas Haden Church Profile", E! Online, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-05-31. 
  4. ^ a b c Ed Pilkington (2008-05-16). Naked ambition. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2008-05-17.
  5. ^ Rebecca Ascher-Walsh (2008-04-10). Thomas Haden Church's choice career. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2008-05-17.
  6. ^ Academy Invites 112 to Membership
  7. ^ Archives > April 2008 - Tavis Smiley Show - KCET - April 8, 2008
  8. ^ "Elle’s June issue: Thomas Haden Church", The Bosh, 2007-05-07. Retrieved on 2007-05-31. 
  9. ^ Mia Zottoli - IMDb

[edit] External links


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Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Miniseries or a Movie

Brian Cox (2001) · Michael Moriarty (2002) · Ben Gazzara (2003) · Jeffrey Wright (2004) · Paul Newman (2005) · Jeremy Irons (2006) · Thomas Haden Church (2007)