Fred Church (actor)
Fred Church ( born November 19, 1888 in Ontario, Iowa, † January 7, 1983 in Quartzite, Arizona ) was an American actor of the silent era who was best known for appearances in Western comedies.
Life
Church worked as a vaudeville artist in various ensembles with whom he toured the United States. In 1909, he appeared in films for Essanay and Selig, mostly in Western comedies by Gilbert M. Anderson. Church played the characters Coyote Simpson and Rawhide Bill beside Augustus Carney, Victor Potel, Harry Todd and Margaret Joslin in the very successful Snake Ville series.
After 1917 Church played for various film companies, especially Universal Studios, main and supporting roles in films of all genres, but especially in Western ( the end of his career, he played under the name Montana Bill). He was mainly in the 1910s a popular actor, but the taste of the audience walked in favor of new Western actors like Tom Mix. The roles for Church were less, and he retired at the beginning of the sound film era more and more from the film business. Church lived for nearly 50 years as retirees.
Church once worked as a director ( 1914: The Futility of Revenge ).