Thomas Haden Church Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Thomas Haden Church
Church at the 2009 premiere of Don McKay
Born	Thomas Richard McMillen (1960-06-17) June 17, 1960 (age 65) Woodland, California, U.S.
Alma mater	University of North Texas
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1989–present
Partner(s)	Mia Zottoli (2002–2008)
Children	2

Thomas Haden Church, born Thomas Richard McMillen on June 17, 1960, is a well-known American actor. He first became famous for his roles in TV shows like Wings in the 1990s and Ned & Stacey.

Later, he gained recognition for his work in movies. Some of his most famous film roles include Lyle van de Groot in George of the Jungle (1997) and his role as the Marvel Comics villain Sandman in Spider-Man 3 (2007) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). He was also nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in Sideways (2004). Thomas Haden Church has also appeared in films like Over the Hedge (2006), Easy A (2010), and We Bought a Zoo (2011). In 2003, he directed his first movie, Rolling Kansas. More recently, in 2023, he starred as Agent Stone in the TV series Twisted Metal.

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Early Life and Education

Thomas Haden Church was born in Woodland, California. His mother was Maxine, and his father was Carlos "Carl" Richard McMillen. His father served in the Marines during the Korean War.

After his parents divorced, his mother moved to Laredo, Texas. She later married George A. Quesada, who was a veteran of World War II. Thomas took his stepfather's last name for a while. However, he later changed it to 'Haden Church' because people found 'Quesada' hard to say. This new name came from other relatives.

He left high school in 1977 to work in oil fields in Louisiana. But he went back and graduated from Harlingen High School in 1979. He then attended the University of North Texas while living in Dallas.

Acting Career Highlights

Thomas Haden Church began his career in entertainment as a radio personality. He also did a lot of voice-over work. After acting in an independent film, he moved to California to become a full-time actor.

One of his early TV roles was in the show Cheers. He played Lowell Mather, a friendly but slow-witted aircraft mechanic, for six seasons (1990–1995) on the NBC sitcom Wings.

After Wings, he continued working in television. He had a main role in Ned & Stacey alongside Debra Messing. He also took on supporting roles in movies like Tombstone, George of the Jungle, and Demon Knight.

Church at the Spider-Man 3 (2007) premiere in New York City

In 1998, Church bought a ranch in Texas. He took a break from films in late 2000. After some smaller movie roles, he directed his first film, Rolling Kansas, in 2003. He also continued doing voice-over work for commercials.

In 2003, director Alexander Payne offered him the role of Jack in the movie Sideways. This film brought him a lot of praise. He won an IFP Independent Spirit Award and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Since then, he has appeared in films like Idiocracy. He also did voice-over work for animated movies such as Over the Hedge. In 2006, he starred in the TV miniseries Broken Trail with Robert Duvall, for which he won an Emmy Award.

In 2007, he played the famous villain Sandman in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3. He was praised for how well he played the character. He also lent his voice to Sandman for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021.

In 2005, Thomas Haden Church was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This is the group that gives out the Academy Awards. He has also appeared in web series and other TV shows, including the HBO series Divorce.

In 2021, it was announced that Church would star in the comedy film The Estate. In March 2023, he played Lloyd in the movie Acidman.

Personal Life

Thomas Haden Church lives on his 2,000-acre (810 ha) ranch near Kerrville, Texas. He has two children from a past relationship with Mia Zottoli. He has never married. His father, Carl, passed away in 2008, and his stepfather, George, passed away in 2012.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Gypsy Angels	Roommate	1989 version; uncredited
1993	Tombstone	Billy Clanton
1995	Demon Knight	Roach
1997	George of the Jungle	Lyle Van de Groot
1998	Susan's Plan	Dr. Chris Stillman
1998	Free Money	Larry Lundstrom
1999	Goosed	Steven Troy
2000	The Specials	The Strobe
2001	3000 Miles to Graceland	US Marshal Quigley
2001	Monkeybone	Death's Assistant	Uncredited
2002	Lone Star State of Mind	Killer
2002	The Badge	David Hardwick
2003	Rolling Kansas	Agent Madsen / Trooper	Uncredited; Also writer/director
2003	George of the Jungle 2	Lyle Van de Groot	Direct-to-video
2004	Serial Killing 4 Dummys	Vince Grimaldi
	Sideways	Jack Cole
	Spanglish	Mike
2006	Over the Hedge	Dwayne	Voice
	Idiocracy	Brawndo CEO
	Charlotte's Web	Brooks	Voice
2007	Spider-Man 3	Flint Marko / Sandman
2008	Smart People	Chuck Wetherhold
2009	Don McKay	Don McKay	Also executive producer
	Imagine That	Johnny Whitefeather
	Aliens in the Attic	Tazer	Voice
	All About Steve	Hartman
2010	Easy A	Mr. Griffith
2011	Another Happy Day	Paul
	Killer Joe	Ansel Smith
	We Bought a Zoo	Duncan Mee
2012	John Carter	Tal Hajus
2013	Whitewash	Bruce Landry
2013	Lucky Them	Charlie
2014	Heaven Is for Real	Jay Wilkins
2015	Max	Ray Wincott
2015	Daddy's Home	Leo Holt
2016	Cardboard Boxer	Willie
2017	Crash Pad	Grady Dott
2019	The Peanut Butter Falcon	Clint / The Salt Water Redneck
2019	Hellboy	Lobster Johnson
2020	The 24th	Col. Norton
2021	Spider-Man: No Way Home	Flint Marko / Sandman	Voice and archive footage
2022	Acidman	Lloyd
2023	Accidental Texan	Merle Luskey
2024	Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2	0TBA
2025	Wake Up Dead Man	0TBA	Post-production
TBA	Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 3	0TBA	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Protect and Surf	Dwight Jesmer	Television film
	21 Jump Street	Tony	Episode: "Eternal Flame"
	Cheers	Gordie Brown	Episode: "Death Takes a Holiday on Ice"
	China Beach	Jack Daniels	Episode: "China Man"
	Booker	Leon Ross	2 episodes
1990–1995	Wings	Lowell Mather	123 episodes
1992	Flying Blind	Jonathan	2 episodes
1993	Fugitive Nights: Danger in the Desert	Nelson Hareem	Television film
1995–1997	Ned and Stacey	Ned Dorsey	46 episodes
1995	Partners	Ned Dorsey	Episode: "City Hall"
1998	Mr. Murder	Drew Oslett Jr.	Television film
2001	Gary & Mike	Additional voices	Episode: "Washington D.C."
	The Cartoon Cartoon Show	Doo Dah (voice)	Episode: "Yee Hah & Doo Dah: Bronco Breakin' Boots"
	Going to California	Schwee	Episode: "Apocalypse Cow"
2003	Miss Match	Andrew Horn	Episode: "Matchmaker, Matchmaker; Uncredited
2003	Lucky	Bobby Blaine	Episode: "The Method"
2004	Teen Titans	Killer Moth (voice)	Episode: "Date with Destiny"
2006	Broken Trail	Tom Harte	Television miniseries; 2 episodes
2010	Zombie Roadkill	Ranger Chet Masterson	Television miniseries; 6 episodes
2012	Regular Show	Quillgin (voice)	Episode: "The Christmas Special"
2016–2019	Divorce	Robert Dufresne	24 episodes; Also executive producer
2021	Nature	Narrator	Episode: "Big Bend: The Wild Frontier of Texas"
2023	Fired on Mars	Trevor Sullivan (voice)	2 episodes
2023	Twisted Metal	Agent Stone	Main role

Video games

Year	Title	Voice role	Notes
1990	Ys	Goban Toba	English dub; Credited as Thomas H. Church
2007	Spider-Man 3	Flint Marko / Sandman

Awards and Nominations

Thomas Haden Church has received many awards and nominations for his acting.

He was nominated for an Academy Award in 2005 for his role in Sideways (2004).
He received two Golden Globe Award nominations: one for Sideways (2004) and another for the miniseries Broken Trail (2006).
He won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie in 2007 for Broken Trail (2006).
He also won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture in 2005 for Sideways (2004).

Thomas Haden Church facts for kids