Fred Church (actor)

{{short description|American actor}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2017}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Fred Church

| image = Fred Church 1914.jpg

| caption = Church in 1914

| birth_date = {{birth date|1889|10|17}}

| birth_place = Boone, Iowa, United States

| death_date = {{death date and age|1983|1|7|1889|10|17}}

| death_place = Blythe, California, United States

| occupation = Actor

| yearsactive = 1908–1935

}}

Fred Rosewell Church (October 17, 1889National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Washington D.C.; Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 – March 31, 1925; ARC Identifier 583830 / MLR Number A1 534; NARA Series: M1490; Roll #1085 – January 7, 1983) was an American actor of the silent era.

After entering vaudeville when he was a boy, Church became part of a double act that spent two years on the circuit. After touring the U.S. in vaudeville, he acted in repertory theater in the central western U.S., including the Selig Company in Chicago.{{cite book |last1=Katchmer |first1=George A. |title=A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses |date=2009 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9781476609058 |page=60 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VnGeCQAAQBAJ&dq=%22Fred+Church%22+actor&pg=PA60 |accessdate=21 July 2018 |language=en}}

In 1908, Church joined Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson in Western films for the latter's Essanay Studios. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1908 and 1935. From 1928 to 1930, he made six films billed as Montana Bill.

Church was born in Boone, Iowa (another source says Quebec, Canada),{{cite news |last1=Katchmer |first1=George A. |title=Forgotten Cowboys |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79284984/the-muscatine-journal/ |access-date=June 10, 2021 |work=The Muscatine Journal |date=January 31, 1981 |page=82|via = Newspapers.com}} and died in Blythe, California,California Death Index, 1940-1997, Riverside County; Date: January 7, 1983; Social Security: 565149978 near his home in Quartzsite, Arizona, from congestive heart failure