List of entertainers in Christian media
Encyclopedia
List of entertainers in Christian media is a list of people most linked to the Christian media(all denominations) or who have their own ministry and do religious films or shows of some kind. Along with actors it includes directors and producers in the Christian film industry. In cases where they are ordained Gospel music
ians will also be included.
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
ians will also be included.
Entertainers with ministries or in religious orders
- Kirk CameronKirk CameronKirk Thomas Cameron is an American actor best known for his role as Mike Seaver on the television situation comedy Growing Pains , as well as several other television and film appearances as a child actor...
-The Way of the MasterThe Way of the MasterThe Way of the Master is a United States-based Christian evangelism ministry, founded in 2002 and headed by American former child actor Kirk Cameron, New Zealand-born evangelist Ray Comfort, and American radio host Todd Friel... - Lauren ChapinLauren ChapinLauren Chapin, born May 23, 1945 in Los Angeles, California, is an American former child actress, most remembered for her role as the youngest child "Kathy Anderson" in the television show Father Knows Best, which was produced between 1954 and 1960. Chapin was awarded five Jr. Emmy's for Best...
-Child actor on Father Knows BestFather Knows BestFather Knows Best is an American radio and television comedy series which portrayed a middle class family life in the Midwest. It was created by writer Ed James in the 1940s.-Radio:...
who became an Evangelist. - Dolores HartDolores HartDolores Hart is an American Roman Catholic nun and former actress. She made 10 films in 5 years, playing opposite Stephen Boyd, Montgomery Clift, George Hamilton and Robert Wagner, having made her movie debut with Elvis Presley in Loving You .-Background:Dolores Hicks was the only child of the...
-Prioress of an Abbey. - Darwood "Waldo" Kaye-Former actor in Our GangOur GangOur Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
, but spent most of his life as a Seventh-day AdventistSeventh-day Adventist ChurchThe Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
pastor. Also did missionary work in ThailandThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. - Tom LesterTom LesterThomas William "Tom" Lester is an American actor and evangelist. He may be best remembered for his role as Oliver & Lisa Douglas's farmhand, Eb Dawson, in the television series Green Acres, and appeared in the movies Gordy and Benji.-Biography:Lester was born in Laurel, Mississippi...
-Actor and evangelist who was in Green AcresGreen AcresGreen Acres is an American television series starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm...
. - Robert McQueeneyRobert McQueeneyFather Robert McQueeney was an American actor, best known for TV roles during the 1950s and 1960s. During and after his acting career, he also worked as a golf pro and instructor. After the official annulment of his marriage, he was ordained as a Catholic priest...
-Actor and golf-pro turned Catholic priest. - Mel NovakMel NovakMel Novak is an American character actor who is best known for villainous roles in action, martial arts and occasionally horror and science fiction films. He is also known for doing all of his own stunts and fighting scenes.-Career:...
-Ministry to prisoners. - Eleanor PowellEleanor PowellEleanor Torrey Powell was an American film actress and dancer of the 1930s and 1940s, known for her exuberant solo tap dancing.-Early life:...
-Unity ChurchUnity ChurchUnity, known informally as Unity Church, is a religious movement within the wider New Thought movement and is best known to many through its Daily Word devotional publication...
minister who did the non-denominational religious series The Faith of Our Children. - Della ReeseDella ReeseDelloreese Patricia Early, known professionally as Della Reese , is an American actress, singer, game show panelist of the 1970s, one-time talk-show hostess and ordained minister. She started her career in the 1950s as a gospel, pop and jazz singer, scoring a hit with her 1959 single "Don't You...
-Co-founder of Understanding Principles for Better Living Church - Fred Rogers-Presbyterian minister specifically charged to continue his work with children's TV.
- Richard RossiRichard RossiRichard Rossi is an American filmmaker, actor, producer, musician, church planter, and healing evangelist...
-Christian film-maker and minister who was once accused of attempted-murder.
Entertainers who host/hosted religious programs
- Thora HirdThora HirdDame Thora Hird DBE was an English actress.-Early life and career:Hird was born in the Lancashire seaside town of Morecambe. She first appeared on stage at the age of two months in a play her father was managing...
-Hosted "Praise Be!" a spin-off of Songs of PraiseSongs of PraiseSongs of Praise is a BBC Television programme based around traditional Christian hymns. It is a widely watched and long-running religious television programme, one of the few peak-time free-to-air religious programmes in Europe Songs of Praise is a BBC Television programme based around traditional...
. - Gavin MacLeodGavin MacLeodGavin MacLeod is an American actor most notable for playing Happy Haines on McHale's Navy, Murray Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Captain Merrill Stubing on The Love Boat...
-Long-time co-host of Back on Course on Trinity Broadcasting NetworkTrinity Broadcasting NetworkThe Trinity Broadcasting Network is a major American Christian television network. TBN is based in Costa Mesa, California, with auxiliary studio facilities in Irving, Texas; Hendersonville, Tennessee; Gadsden, Alabama; Decatur, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Orlando, Florida; and New...
. - Debra PagetDebra PagetDebra Paget is an American actress and entertainer who rose to prominence in the 1950s and early 1960s in a variety of feature films including Cecil B. DeMille's epic The Ten Commandments and Love Me Tender, the film début of Elvis Presley.-Early life and career:Paget was born in Denver, Colorado...
-Hosted An Interlude with Debra Paget on TBN.
Actors primarily in Christian films
- Chelsea NobleChelsea NobleChelsea Noble is an American actress who is best known for her role as Kate MacDonald on the American television sitcom Growing Pains...
-Wife of Kirk CameronKirk CameronKirk Thomas Cameron is an American actor best known for his role as Mike Seaver on the television situation comedy Growing Pains , as well as several other television and film appearances as a child actor...
. - David A.R. WhiteDavid A.R. WhiteDavid Andrew Roy White, also known as David White, is an American actor, screenwriter and producer. He grew up in a small farming town that was located outside of Dodge City, Kansas. He is a co-founder of Pure Flix Entertainment, a distribution and production company...
-He had a recurring role on Evening ShadeEvening ShadeEvening Shade was an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from 1990 to 1994. The series starred Burt Reynolds as Wood Newton, an ex-professional football player for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who returns to rural Evening Shade, Arkansas to coach a high school football team with a long...
, but later largely in the Christian cinema as actor and film-maker.
Directors, producers, or screenwriters
- Mitch DavisMitch DavisMitch Davis is a film director noted for his 2001 film The Other Side of Heaven about the trials and adventures of an LDS Missionary, John H...
-member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who produced The Other Side of HeavenThe Other Side of HeavenThe Other Side of Heaven is a 2001 film produced by Academy Award winner Gerald R. Molen and directed by Mitch Davis and stars Christopher Gorham and Anne Hathaway .-Overview:... - Craig DetweilerCraig DetweilerCraig Detweiler is a U.S. author, filmmaker and cultural commentator resident in Los Angeles, CA, who is employed as an associate professor of Communication at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.-Early life and career:...
-He teaches film at Fuller Theological SeminaryFuller Theological SeminaryFuller Theological Seminary is an accredited Christian educational institute with its main campus in Pasadena, California and several satellite campuses in the western United States...
and wrote Extreme DaysExtreme DaysExtreme Days is a 2001 Christian-based comedy romance film about four boys on a roadtrip that they have been planning their whole lives. Their dreams are to participate in many extreme sports, but they are stopped short due to many circumstances.-Plot:...
. - Russell S. DoughtenRussell S. DoughtenRussell S. Doughten Jr. is a film-maker and producer of numerous Christian short films and feature-length movies. His film work is credited under numerous variations of his name: with or without the "Jr." suffix or middle initial, and sometimes using the informal "Russ" instead of "Russell". ...
-A Thief in the Night (also did the secular The BlobThe BlobThe Blob is an independently made 1958 American horror/science-fiction film that depicts a giant amoeba-like alien that terrorizes the small community of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania...
) - Richard DutcherRichard DutcherRichard Alan Dutcher is an American independent filmmaker who produces, writes, directs, edits, and frequently stars in his films. Well known among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for his early Mormon-themed productions, Dutcher has been called “The Father of Mormon...
-LDS movie producer and director. - Alex KendrickAlex KendrickAlex Kendrick is an associate pastor at Sherwood Baptist Church, in Albany, Georgia. He has been in Albany since 1999. He oversees the movie outreach for the church, which includes Sherwood Pictures, the movie-creating entity that produced Flywheel , Facing the Giants , Fireproof , and Courageous ....
-A pastor at the Sherwood Baptist Church who directed Facing the GiantsFacing the Giants- Official listing :# Come Together - Third Day# Voice of Truth - Casting Crowns# Facing the Giants Theme - Mark Willard# I'm Finding You - Bebo Norman# The Deathcrawl - Mark Willard# Completely - Ana Laura...
and "Flywheel." - Paul LaLondePaul LaLondePaul LaLonde is a Canadian/American film Producer/film writer and co-founder of the film company Cloud Ten Pictures. He was also a former co-host of the 1980s Biblical series This Week In Bible Prophecy with his brother Peter LaLonde. He co-produced the widely popular film Left Behind...
and Peter LaLonde-Cloud Ten PicturesCloud Ten PicturesCloud Ten Pictures is a film production and distribution company located in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, specializing in Christian-themed films.- Overview :Cloud Ten was formed by brothers Peter LaLonde and Paul LaLonde in 1994... - Bill MyersBill MyersBill Myers is an American Christian author, film director and film producer. He was born in Seattle, Washington September 9, 1953.Myers is most notable for the largely successful animated series The Adventures of McGee and Me...
-The Adventures of McGee and MeThe Adventures of McGee and MeThe Adventures of McGee and Me! is an American Christian television series created by Ken C. Johnson and Bill Myers. The series premiered on June 4, 1989, spanning twelve episodes until its conclusion on June 11, 1995... - Mike NawrockiMike NawrockiMichael Nawrocki is an American voice actor, writer, animator and director. He is the co-founder and Executive Vice President of Big Idea Entertainment, the company best known for bringing computer-animated vegetables to life in the popular VeggieTales series...
-VeggieTalesVeggieTalesVeggieTales is an American series of children's computer animated films featuring anthropomorphic vegetables in stories conveying moral themes based on Christianity... - Ben Pearson-The Second ChanceThe Second ChanceThe Second Chance is a 2006 drama film, directed by veteran musician Steve Taylor. The film won Best Feature Film at the Christian WYSIWYG Film Festival....
- Frank E. PerettiFrank E. PerettiFrank Edward Peretti is a New York Times best-selling author of Christian fiction, whose novels primarily focus on the supernatural. To date, his works have sold over 15 million copies worldwide. Peretti is best known for his novels This Present Darkness and The Oath...
-The Wild and Wacky World of Mr. Henry - Steve TaylorSteve TaylorRoland Stephen Taylor , is an American Christian singer, songwriter, record producer and film director.-Early life:Taylor, the eldest of three children, was born in Brawley, California. Taylor's father, Roland Taylor, was a Baptist minister. When Taylor was six years old, the family relocated to...
-The Second ChanceThe Second ChanceThe Second Chance is a 2006 drama film, directed by veteran musician Steve Taylor. The film won Best Feature Film at the Christian WYSIWYG Film Festival.... - Phil VischerPhil VischerPhillip "Phil" Vischer is an American voice actor, animator, director, writer and puppeteer known for creating the computer-animated video series VeggieTales with partner and friend Mike Nawrocki...
-VeggieTalesVeggieTalesVeggieTales is an American series of children's computer animated films featuring anthropomorphic vegetables in stories conveying moral themes based on Christianity... - Chris Waters-Angel Wars
Ordained Gospel musicians
- Shirley CaesarShirley CaesarShirley Ann Caesar is an American Gospel music singer, songwriter and recording artist whose career has spanned six decades...
-A pastor. - Kenneth CopelandKenneth CopelandKenneth Copeland is an American author, public speaker, and televangelist. He is the founder of Kenneth Copeland Ministries, which preaches a “prosperity gospel”: "Prosperity gospel assures followers that the more they give including in the form of tithes to the church, the more they will receive...
-Televangelist. - Andrae CrouchAndrae CrouchAndraé Crouch is a seven-time Grammy Award-winning American gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, recording artist, record producer, and pastor.-Early years:Born Andraé Edward Crouch in San Francisco, California....
-Pastor in the Church of God in ChristChurch of God in ChristThe Church of God in Christ is a Pentecostal Holiness Christian denomination with a predominantly African-American membership. With nearly five million members in the United States and 12,000 congregations, it is the largest Pentecostal church and the fifth largest Christian church in the U.S....
. - Al Green-Ordained in the Full Gospel Tabernacle.
- Mylon LeFevreMylon LeFevreMylon LeFevre is an American Christian music singer, who was the leader of the Grammy Award-winning band Mylon and Broken Heart. He is a member of the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame. He currently travels around the United States, ministering, teaching and singing...
-Mylon LaFevre Ministries - Smokie NorfulSmokie NorfulRev. W.R. "Smokie" Norful, Jr. is an American gospel singer and pianist, best known for his 2002 album, I Need You Now and his 2004 release, Nothing Without You, which won a Grammy at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album in 2004.-Early life:Norful, a minister who...
-Grammy winning Gospel musician and minister. - Little RichardLittle RichardRichard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
-More known for early Rock and rollRock and rollRock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, but became a Pentecostal minister who did Gospel music in the early 1960s. - John Michael TalbotJohn Michael TalbotJohn Michael Talbot is an American Roman Catholic singer-songwriter-guitarist who is founder of a monastic community, the Brothers and Sisters of Charity.-Biography:...
-Joined a FranciscanFranciscanMost Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
order, but does some Gospel music.