Tony Church

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For other persons named Tony Church, see Tony Church (disambiguation).

James Anthony Church
Born	May 11, 1930(1930-05-11) London
Died	March 25, 2008 (aged 77) London
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1953-2007

James Anthony Church (Tony Church) (May 11, 1930 — March 25, 2008)^[1] was a British Shakespearean actor, who has appeared on stage and screen. In 1989 he became the Dean of the National Theatre Conservatory, which is the teaching arm of the Denver Center Theatre Company in Denver, Colorado.

1 Stage
2 Film and Television
3 References
4 Other sources
5 External links

[edit] Stage

Church was educated at Hurstpierpoint College, and Clare College, Cambridge.^[2] In 1953 fellow Cambridge student Peter Hall directed his first professional production (Pirandello's Henry IV at the Arts Theatre, London), Church was a performer. In 1960 Hall set up the new Royal Shakespeare Company and Church joined him as a founder member. He was a regular performer with the company until 1987. In 1988 Church took leading parts in Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale and The Tempest, once again under the direction of Peter Hall, at London's National Theatre.

He appeared for the last time on the Stratford stage on 31 March 2007, in a special programme marking the closure of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.^[3]

Notwithstanding Church's stage commitments, he was appointed Director of Drama at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1982, leaving to take up the post with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in 1989.

[edit] Film and Television

He appeared in Work Is A Four Letter Word (1967), Tess (1979), and Krull (1983). In the 1963 BBC production of As You Like It he played Duke Frederick. Later he played Frederick's banished brother in the 1978 BBC Television Shakespeare production. He also had small roles as Squire Bancroft in Lillie and Samuel Hoare in Edward & Mrs. Simpson.