Fred Church

Fred Church (born November 19, 1888 in Ontario , Iowa , † January 7, 1983 in Quartzite , Arizona ) was an American actor of the silent film 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. From 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 alongside Augustus Carney , Victor Potel , Harry Todd and Margaret Joslin in the hugely successful Snakeville series.

After 1917 Church played for various film companies, especially Universal Studios , leading and supporting roles in films of all genres, but especially in westerns (at the end of his career he played under the name Montana Bill ). He was a popular actor, especially in the 1910s, but audience tastes shifted in favor of new western actors like Tom Mix . The roles for Church became fewer and he withdrew more and more from the film business at the beginning of the sound film era. Church lived as a retiree for nearly 50 years.

Church once worked as a director (1914: The Futility of Revenge ).

Filmography

• 1908: The Cowboy's Baby
• 1909: The Heart of a Cowboy
• 1909: The Spanish Girl
• 1909: The Ranchman's Rival
• 1909: His Reformation
• 1909: The Best Man Wins
• 1909: The Mad Miner
• 1909: Day Day
• 1910: The Bad Man's Christmas Gift
• 1910: The Tenderfoot Messenger
• 1910: A Cowboy's Vindication
• 1910: Circle C Ranch's Wedding Present
• 1910: A Western Woman's Way
• 1910: The Little Prospector
• 1910: The Marked Trail
• 1910: The Masquerade Cop
• 1910: Pals of the Range
• 1910: The Bearded Bandit
• 1910: Patricia of the Plains
• 1910: The Tout's Remembrance
• 1910: The Pony Express Rider
• 1910: The Deputy's Love
• 1910: Under Western Skies
• 1910: The Desperado
• 1910: The Unknown Claim
• 1910: The Bad Man's Last Deed
• 1910: The Forest Ranger
• 1910: The Ranchman's Feud
• 1910: The Brother, Sister and the Cowpuncher
• 1910: The Little Doctor of the Foothills
• 1910: The Cowpuncher's Ward
• 1910: A Vein of Gold
• 1910: The Bad Man and the Preacher
• 1910: The Mistaken Bandit
• 1910: The Ranger's Bride
• 1910: The Flower of the Ranch
• 1910: A Ranchman'Wooing
• 1910: The Girl and the Fugitive
• 1910: Method in His Madness
• 1910: The Mexican's Faith
• 1910: The Cowboy and the Squaw
• 1910: The Outlaw's Sacrifice
• 1910: Won by a Hold-Up
• 1911: Broncho Billy's Adventure
• 1911: Broncho Billy's Christmas Dinner
• 1911: Papa's Letter
• 1911: The Desert Claim
• 1911: A Cattle Rustler's Father
• 1911: The Forester's Plea
• 1911: A Western Redemption
• 1911: The Stage Driver's Daughter
• 1911: Town Hall, Tonight
• 1911: The Strike at the Little Jonny Mine
• 1911: A Western Girl's Sacrifice
• 1911: Mustang Pete's Love Affair
• 1911: The Corporation and the Ranch Girl
• 1911: Forgiven in Death
• 1911: The Lucky Card
• 1911: Alkali Ike's car
• 1911: The Bunco Game at Lizardhead
• 1911: The Indian Maiden's Lesson
• 1911: The Sheriff'Chum
• 1911: Across the Plains
• 1911: The Faithful Indian
• 1911: On the Desert's Edge
• 1911: The Outlaw and the Child
• 1911: The Two Reformations
• 1911: The Count and the Cowboys
• 1912: The Sheriff's Inheritance
• 1912: Alkali Ike'Motorcycle
• 1912: The Prospector
• 1912: Western Girls
• 1912: Broncho Billy'Mexican Wife
• 1912: Broncho Billy's Heart
• 1912: The Dance at Silver Gulch
• 1912: To Indian'Friendship
• 1912: The Ranch Girl's Trial
• 1912: The Tomboy on Bar Z
• 1912: The Shotgun Ranchman
• 1912: Alkali Ike Stung!
• 1912: To Indian Sunbeam
• 1912: Alkali Ike's Pants
• 1912: A Woman of Arizona
• 1912: The Ranchman's Trust
• 1912: Broncho Billy for Sheriff
• 1912: Alkali Ike Plays the Devil
• 1912: Broncho Billy's Escapade
• 1912: On the Moonlight Trail
• 1912: Broncho Billy's Last Hold-Up
• 1912: The Little Sheriff
• 1912: The Loafer's Mother
• 1912: Broncho Billy'Pal
• 1912: A Moonshiner's Heart
• 1912: The Smuggler's Daughter
• 1912: Broncho Billy's Narrow Escape
• 1912: On the Cactus Trail
• 1912: Broncho Billy and the Indian Maid
• 1912: Western Hearts
• 1912: On El Monte Ranch
• 1912: Broncho Billy's Bible
• 1912: The Desert Sweetheart
• 1912: The Sheriff and His Man
• 1912: The Dead Man's Claim
• 1912: Broncho Billy and the Bandits
• 1912: Alkali Ike's Boarding House
• 1912: Alkali Ike Bests Broncho Billy
• 1912: A Ranch Widower's Daughters
• 1912: The Ranch Girl'Mistake
• 1912: The Prospector's Legacy
• 1912: The Deputy and the Girl
• 1912: Broncho Billy and the Schoolmistress
• 1912: The Oath of His Office
• 1912: A Child of the West
• 1913: A Snakeville Courtship
• 1913: Broncho Billy's Christmas Deed
• 1913: The Three Gamblers
• 1913: Broncho Billy'Squareness
• 1913: A Romance of the Hills
• 1913: Sophie's Hero
• 1913: The End of the Circle
• 1913: The New Schoolmarm of Green River
• 1913: The Doctor's Duty
• 1913: The Kid Sheriff
• 1913: Alkali Ike and the Wildman
• 1913: Broncho Billy Gets Square
• 1913: Love and the Law
• 1913: The Struggle
• 1913: The Belle of Siskiyou
• 1913: Why Broncho Billy Left Bear Country
• 1913: The Broken Parole
• 1913: Broncho Billy Reforms
• 1913: Bonnie of the Hills
• 1913: Broncho Billy's Conscience
• 1913: The Episode at Cloudy Canyon
• 1913: Alkali Ike's Gal
• 1913: The Edge of Things
• 1913: Their Promise
• 1913: The Dance at Eagle Pass
• 1913: Broncho Billy and the Western Girls
• 1913: At the Lariat's End
• 1913: The Life We Live
• 1913: Broncho Billy's Strategy
• 1913: Alkali Ike and the Hypnotist
• 1913: The Rustler's Spur
• 1913: Broncho Billy'Capture
• 1913: The Last Shot
• 1913: Broncho Billy and the Express Rider
• 1913: A Widow of Nevada
• 1913: The Ranch Girl's Partner
• 1913: Broncho Billy's Reason
• 1913: Broncho Billy's Gratefulness
• 1913: Broncho Billy's Sister
• 1913: The Influence of Broncho Billy
• 1913: Broncho Billy and the Sheriff's Kid
• 1913: The Making of Broncho Billy
• 1913: Broncho Billy's Gun Play
• 1913: Broncho Billy's Brother
• 1913: The Miner's Request
• 1914: The School Teacher at Angel Camp
• 1914: Her Higher Ambition
• 1914: Man to Man
• 1914: Dolly's Deliverance
• 1914: The Girl from Texas
• 1914: The Blacksmith's Daughter
• 1914: In the Hollow of an Oak
• 1914: Four Days
• 1914: The Man in the Attic
• 1914: A Rose of Yesterday
• 1914: Universal Ike and the School Belle
• 1914: Sophie Picks a Dead One
• 1914: What Came to Bar Q
• 1914: A Night on the Road
• 1914: Broncho Billy, Guardian
• 1914: The Cast of the Die
• 1914: The Story of the Old Gun
• 1914: The Hills of Peace
• 1914: The Awakening at Snakeville
• 1915: The Road to Paradise
• 1915: When a Queen Loved O'Rourke
• 1915: The New Adventures of Terence O'Rourke
• 1915: The Palace of Dust
• 1915: The Long Chance
• 1915: A Fight to a Finish
• 1915: The Yellow Star
• 1915: A Leap for Life
• 1915: The Missing Man
• 1915: At Twelve O'Clock
• 1915: The Greaser
• 1915: Christmas at Lonesome Gulch
• 1916: Giant Powder
• 1916: It's Great to Be Married
• 1916: The End of the Rainbow
• 1916: A Romance of Billy Goat Hill
• 1916: With the Spirit's Help
• 1916: The Girl of Lost Lake
• 1916: The Secret of the Swamp
• 1916: It Happened in Honolulu
• 1916: Her Great Part
• 1916: The Thief of the Desert
• 1916: Miss Blossom
• 1916: The Gambler
• 1916: The Brink
• 1916: The Flirt
• 1916: The Secret Foe
• 1916: Lonesomeness
• 1916: The Heart of Bonita
• 1916: Her Greatest Story
• 1916: The Wrong Door
• 1916: The Wise Man and the Fool
• 1917: Madame Du Barry
• 1917: The Clever Mrs. Carfax
• 1917: The Temple of Terror
• 1917: The Lion's Lair
• 1917: The Last of the Night Riders
• 1917: The Lure of the Circus
• 1917: Jungle Treachery
• 1917: Squaring It
• 1917: A Blissful Calamity
• 1917: Number 10, Westbound
• 1917: Southern Justice
• 1917: The Phantom's Secret
• 1917: A Startling Climax
• 1917: The Honeymoon Surprise
• 1918: Shootin 'Mad
• 1918: All for Gold
• 1918: The Human Tiger
• 1918: beans
• 1918: Angel Child
• 1918: The Blindness of Divorce
• 1919: Red Blood and Yellow
• 1919: The Son-of-a-Gun
• 1922: The Fighting Kid
• 1923: The Man from New York
• 1924: Chalk Marks
• 1926: Two Fisted Buckaroo
• 1926: Prince of the Saddle
• 1926: The Lost Express
• 1926: Signal Fires
• 1926: Stacked Cards
• 1926: Temple of Terror
• 1927: The Mansion of Mystery
• 1927: The Lone Rider
• 1928: Trails of Treachery
• 1928: The Vanishing West
• 1928: Riders of Vengeance
• 1928: Secrets of the Range
• 1929: Western Methods
• 1929: The Unknown Rider
• 1929: Cowboy Cavalier
• 1930: The Apache Kid's Escape
• 1930: South of Sonora
• 1930: Rough and Ready
• 1931: So This Is Arizona
• 1931: Flying Lariats
• 1931: Riders of the Cactus
• 1931: Wild West Whoopee
• 1931: The Ridin 'Kid
• 1932: The Golden West
• 1934: Border Guns
• 1935: Defying the Law
• 1935: Devil'Canyon
• 1936: Desert Guns

Web links

• Fred Church in the Internet Movie Database (English)