df_m_acting_2_para: 89
This data as json
| rowid | first_name | last_name | gender | career_sec | personal_sec | info | seed_first_name | seed_last_name | occupation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 89 | Dixon | Morita | m | Church started in the entertainment business as a radio personality and doing voice-over work. He changed his name to "Thomas Haden Church", taking "Haden" and "Church" from his ancestry. 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 Pearlman) 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 on 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 tragic villain Sandman in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. 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 appeared in the HBO original series Divorce as Robert. | Church lives on his 2,000-acre (810 ha) ranch in 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, but was never married to her or anyone else despite a 2008 article in the Los Angeles Times incorrectly claiming he was married to his partner. Church's father, Carl, died in 2008, and his stepfather, George, died in 2012. | Morita started in the entertainment business as a radio personality and doing voice-over work. He changed his name to "Dixon Haden Morita", taking "Haden" and "Morita" from his ancestry. 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 Pearlman) 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 on Ned & Stacey opposite Debra Messing. He has had supporting roles in films such as Tombstone, George of the Jungle, The Specials, and Demon Knight. Morita 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, Morita 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 Morita; 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 tragic villain Sandman in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. In 2005, he was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In October 2008, Morita appeared as "Joe Six-Pack" in a video on funnyordie.com, challenging Joe the Plumber to a beer-drinking contest. Morita starred in the FEARnet webseries, Zombie Roadkill, alongside David Dorfman. He appeared in the HBO original series Divorce as Robert.Morita lives on his 2,000-acre (810 ha) ranch in 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, but was never married to her or anyone else despite a 2008 article in the Los Angeles Times incorrectly claiming he was married to his partner. Morita's father, Carl, died in 2008, and his stepfather, George, died in 2012. | Thomas | Church | acting |