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Thomas Haden Church
Church at the 2009 premiere of Don McKay
Born	Thomas Richard McMillen (1960-06-17) June 17, 1960 (age 64) Woodland, California, U.S.
Alma mater	University of North Texas
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1989–present
Partner	Mia Zottoli (2002–2008)
Children	2

Thomas Haden Church (born Thomas Richard McMillen; June 17, 1960) is an American actor. After starring in the 1990s sitcom Wings and playing the lead for two seasons in Ned & Stacey (1995–1997), Church became known for his film work, including his role of Lyle van de Groot in George of the Jungle (1997), his Academy Award–nominated performance in Sideways (2004), his role as the Marvel Comics villain Sandman in the superhero films Spider-Man 3 (2007) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), as well as his starring roles in Over the Hedge (2006), Smart People (2008), Easy A (2010), We Bought a Zoo (2011), Max (2015), and Hellboy (2019). He also made his directorial debut with Rolling Kansas (2003). In 2023, he starred as antagonist Agent Stone in the post-apocalyptic action comedy series Twisted Metal.

Early life

Church was born Thomas Richard McMillen on June 17, 1960, in Woodland, Yolo County, California, to Maxine (née Sanders; 1936–2021) and Carlos "Carl" Richard McMillen (1936–2008), who served for eight years in the Marines and who was on active duty at the end of the Korean War; after 1962, Carl worked as a surveyor. Church's parents divorced and his mother moved to Laredo, Texas. She remarried in 1969, to widower George A. Quesada, a veteran of an Army Air Forces reconnaissance unit which served in Guam in World War II. Church took his stepfather's surname for a time but changed it to 'Haden Church', extracted from the names of other relatives, when people found 'Quesada' difficult to pronounce. He left high school in 1977 to work in the oil fields of Louisiana, but he returned to graduate from Harlingen High School in 1979. He attended the University of North Texas while living in Dallas.

Career

Church started in the entertainment business as a radio personality and doing voice-over work. After appearing in an independent film, he moved to California to pursue an acting career. His character delivers a love letter to Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman) from her deceased former lover, Eddie LaBec, in the Cheers episode, "Death Takes a Vacation on Ice". He played the part of slow-witted aircraft mechanic Lowell Mather for six seasons (1990–95) on the NBC sitcom Wings.

He worked in television for two more seasons, with a lead role in Ned & Stacey opposite Debra Messing. He has had supporting roles in films such as Tombstone, George of the Jungle, The Specials, and Demon Knight.

Church bought a ranch in Texas in 1998. In late 2000, he took a break from films. After having small roles in films such as Monkeybone and 3000 Miles to Graceland, he made his directorial debut with Rolling Kansas in 2003. He has voiceover work in commercials, such as for Merrill Lynch and Icehouse beer.

In 2003, director Alexander Payne called him regarding the role of Jack, the selfish best friend of Paul Giamatti's character, in Sideways. 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." (He later found that he was the only actor to strip down for the audition). Sideways earned acclaim for Church; he won an IFP Independent Spirit Award and was nominated for the 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. He received praise for his portrayal of the character. Although he was not present on set he lent his voice to Sandman (digitally created) for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Spider-Man: No Way Home, which was released in 2021 and linked both the Raimi and Marc Webb franchises to the MCU. Archival footage from Spider-Man 3 was used to show his human form at the end of the film where Jon Watts provided the motion-capture for Sandman.

In 2005, he was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In October 2008, Church appeared as "Joe Six-Pack" in a video on funnyordie.com, challenging Joe the Plumber to a beer-drinking contest. Church starred in the FEARnet webseries, Zombie Roadkill, alongside David Dorfman. He also appeared in the HBO original series Divorce.

In December 2021, it was announced that Church will star alongside Toni Collette and Anna Faris in the comedy film The Estate, directed by Dean Craig.

In March 2023, he played Lloyd in Acidman.

Personal life

Church lives on his 2,000-acre (810 ha) ranch near Kerrville, Texas. During the filming of Divorce, he rented a house in New Rochelle, New York. He has two children from a former relationship with Mia Zottoli. Church has never married. Church's father, Carl, died in 2008, and his stepfather, George, died in 2012.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

Church has received multiple awards and nominations for his roles in both television and film. He earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 2005 for his role as Jack in Sideways (2004), two Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor in 2004 for the film Sideways (2004) and Best Supporting Actor in 2007 for the miniseries Broken Trail (2006), won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie in 2007 for Broken Trail (2006), and won one of three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations in 2005 for Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for Sideways (2004).

References

1. ^ How did Thomas Haden Church land his role on Divorce? 'I was age-appropriate', Oct. 2016 in the Guardian: As he points out, he has never been divorced (or married). "But I did go through a pretty significant upheaval several years ago. I have an ex with two children. So having gone through something as sort of life-changing as that myself ... " he trails off a bit, sounding uncomfortable, and pivots to something less personal.
2. ^ Buck, Jerry (August 3, 1992). "'Wings' Character Stumbles, But He's Not Stupid, Star Says". Deseret News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 3, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2013. His birth name was McMillen, but he took his stepfather's name of Quesada. He changed it to Thomas Haden Church 'because nobody could spell Quesada or pronounce it.'
3. "Thomas Haden Church". TV Guide. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
4. ^ "Thomas Haden Church". AllMovie. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
5. "Maxine S. Quesada Obituary". Austin American-Statesman. 19 July 2021. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
6. ^ "Carl Richard McMillen, 71". Bonner County Daily Bee. April 11, 2008. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
7. ^ "George A. Quesada". Denton Record-Chronicle. July 18, 2012. Archived from the original on April 8, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
8. ^ Pilkington, Ed (May 16, 2008). "Naked ambition". The Guardian. Retrieved May 17, 2008.
9. "Overheard with Evan Smith". January 12, 2017.
10. Ascher-Walsh, Rebecca (April 10, 2008). "Thomas Haden Church's choice career". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 17, 2008.
11. "Spider-Man 3 Interviews: Thomas Haden Church - SuperHeroHype". Superherohype.com. April 22, 2007. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
12. Macready, Melody (January 10, 2021). "Spider-Man: 5 Ways Sandman Was The Best Villain Of The Trilogy (& 5 Ways It Will Always Be Doc Ock)". Screen Rant. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
13. Betancourt, David; Cavna, Michael (December 20, 2021). "The Top 6 Spider-Man Movie Villains, Ranked". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
14. Benjamin Bullard (2022-01-03). "Turns out one of Spider-Man: No Way Home's big bads wasn't needed on the movie set". SYFY Official Site. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
15. "Thomas Haden Church vs Joe the Plumber". Funnyordie.com. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
16. "FEARnet Goes to Church for Zombie Roadkill", dreadcentral.com; accessed June 10, 2014.
17. Dalton, Ben (December 2, 2021). "Toni Collette, Anna Faris, Thomas Haden Church set to star in UK-US comedy 'The Estate'". Screen Daily.
18. ^ Goldman, Andrew (May 23, 2007). "Church's Doctrine: Thomas Haden Church tells us why he loves older women and making out". Elle. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
19. "Thomas Haden Church on Filming 'Divorce' in Westchester". 8 January 2018.
20. "Thomas Haden Church's choice career". Los Angeles Times. 10 April 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2017 – via LA Times.
21. "Spider-Man: No Way Home Reuses Footage From Past Spider-Man Movies". Marvel. 26 December 2021. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
22. "Looks Like No Way Home Reused Spider-Man 3 Sandman Scenes". Screen Rant. 26 December 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
23. "9th Annual Film Awards (2004) – Online Film & Television Association". www.oftaawards.com. Retrieved 2018-04-14.
24. "11th Annual TV Awards (2006-07) – Online Film & Television Association". www.oftaawards.com. Retrieved 2018-04-14.

External links

• Media related to Thomas Haden Church at Wikimedia Commons
• Thomas Haden Church at IMDb

• 1960 births
• 20th-century American male actors
• 21st-century American male actors
• American male film actors
• American male television actors
• American male voice actors
• American male video game actors
• Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male winners
• Living people
• Male actors from Texas
• Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
• Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners
• People from Harlingen, Texas
• People from Laredo, Texas
• University of North Texas alumni