John Noble (born 20 August 1948) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Denethor in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003), and Dr. Walter Bishop in the Fox science fiction series '' Fringe'' (2008–2013). His other television credits include the supernatural drama '' Sleepy Hollow'' (2013–2017) and the police procedural '' Elementary'' (2015–2019). Noble has also lent his distinctively deep voice to animated and video game projects, most notably as Leland Monroe in Rockstar Games' '' L.A. Noire'' (2011), Unicron in the animated series '' Transformers: Prime'' (2010–2013), and Scarecrow in the

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

game '' Batman: Arkham Knight'' (2015).

Career

Noble's early acting career started in theater throughout the 1970s and 1980s. For 10 years, he was an artistic director for the Stage Company of South Australia. Noble was a Trustee of the Adelaide Festival Centre and chairman of the Adelaide Festival of the Arts. In 1979, he starred in ''Errol Flynn's Great Big Adventure Book for Boys'' at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland. In 1984, Noble received a nomination by South Australian Premier John Bannon, for the Young Australian of the Year award. Noble at age 40 made his film debut in the 1988 horror film '' The Dreaming''. He made occasional appearances on the television series '' All Saints''. His performance as Denethor, son of Ecthelion, in ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy resulted in his becoming better known to international audiences. He played Russian Consul Anatoly Markov in the sixth season of the US television series '' 24''. He won awards when starring as eccentric scientist Walter Bishop in the television series '' Fringe'' for 5 seasons (2008–2013). Noble played Morland Holmes, father of Sherlock Holmes, in '' Elementary''. He was a series regular for season 4 with guest appearances in seasons 6 and 7. Noble has also done voice acting, usually portraying villains. He voiced the Dragon Spirit in M. Night Shyamalan's film '' The Last Airbender'' (2010), appeared as Real Estate tycoon Leland Monroe in Rockstar Games' '' L.A. Noire'' (2011), and provided the voice for Unicron in the animated series '' Transformers: Prime'' and its conclusion film '' Transformers Prime Beast Hunters: Predacons Rising''. Noble also voiced the Diviner in the 2021 animated series '' Star Trek: Prodigy''. In 2024, he played an alternate version of the Diviner called Ilthuran. Noble has done voice-over work for numerous

projects, including the animated film '' Superman: Unbound'' (2013) as the

supervillain A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...

Brainiac, the video game '' Batman: Arkham Knight'' (2015) as the primary antagonist Scarecrow, and the television series '' Legends of Tomorrow'' as the demon Mallus. Additionally, Noble appeared as himself in the ''Legends of Tomorrow'' episode "Guest Starring John Noble". On February 21, 2025 Noble made his debut on season two of the Apple TV+ show '' Severance'' in the sixth episode, titled "

Attila Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central Europe, C ...

," playing the role of a character named Cecil Fields. Fields is a homosexual man who is married to Christopher Walken's character, Burt Goodman, who is often identified as "Burt G."

Personal life

Noble divides his time between residences in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, with wife Penny Noble. They have three children, including actress Samantha Noble. In 2011, Noble's hobbies were reported to be "music, painting, and narration". He studies

theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict List of natural phenomena, natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental p ...

and requested that the writers of '' Fringe'' always keep things grounded in what could be scientifically feasible. In 2012, Noble was diagnosed with osteoporosis. His charity, Noble Bones, helps to raise awareness of the disease.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Other work

* Artistic Director of Stage Company of South Australia 1977–1987 * Head of Drama, Brent St. School of Arts (Sydney) 1997–2000

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Noble, John 1948 births 20th-century Australian male actors 21st-century Australian male actors Living people People from Port Pirie Australian male film actors Australian theatre directors Australian male television actors Australian male video game actors Australian male voice actors Male actors from South Australia Australian expatriate male actors in the United States Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners