Church was born in Yolo, California, the son of Maxine (née Sanders) and Carlos "Carl" Richard McMillen (1936–2008), who served for eight years in the Marines and saw action in the Korean War; after 1962, Carlos worked as a surveyor. Church\'s parents divorced and his mother moved to Texas. She remarried in 1969, to widower George A. Quesada, a veteran of an Army Air Forces reconnaissance unit which served in Guam in World War II. Church took his stepfather\'s surname for a time but changed it to "Haden Church," extracted from the names of other relatives, when people found Quesada difficult to pronounce. He left high school in 1977 to work in the oil fields of Louisiana, but he returned to graduate from Harlingen High School in 1979. He attended the University of North Texas while living in Dallas.\n', '

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 last love letter from "Eddie Labec" to "Carla" 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.\n', '

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, and The Specials. He has often played villains or comic relief in films, such as in Demon Knight.[citation needed] \n', '

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