Tom Noonan (born April 12, 1951) is an American actor, director, and screenwriter, best known for his roles as Francis Dollarhyde in '' Manhunter'' (1986),

Frankenstein's Monster Frankenstein's monster, commonly referred to as Frankenstein, is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' as its main antagonist. Shelley's title compares the monster's ...

in ''

The Monster Squad ''The Monster Squad'' is a 1987 American horror comedy film directed by Fred Dekker, and written by Dekker and Shane Black. Peter Hyams and Rob Cohen served as executive producers. It was released by Tri-Star Pictures on August 14, 1987. T ...

'' (1987), Cain in '' RoboCop 2'' (1990), The Ripper in ''

Last Action Hero ''Last Action Hero'' is a 1993 American fantasy action comedy film directed and produced by John McTiernan and co-written by Shane Black and David Arnott. It is a satire of the action genre and associated clichés, containing several parodies ...

'' (1993), Kelso the hacker in ''Heat'' (1995), Sammy Barnathan in ''

Synecdoche, New York ''Synecdoche, New York'' ( ) is a 2008 American postmodern psychological drama film written and directed by Charlie Kaufman in his directorial debut. The film stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as Caden Cotard, a theater director whose attempt to ...

'' (2008), Mr. Ulman in ''

The House of the Devil ''The House of the Devil'' is a 2009 American horror film written, directed, and edited by Ti West, starring Jocelin Donahue, Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov, Greta Gerwig, A. J. Bowen, and Dee Wallace. The plot concerns a young college student ...

'' (2009), Reverend Nathaniel in '' Hell on Wheels'' (2011–2014), the Pallid Man in ''

12 Monkeys ''12 Monkeys'' is a 1995 American Science fiction film, science fiction thriller film directed by Terry Gilliam from a screenplay by David Peoples and Janet Peoples, based on Chris Marker's 1962 short film ''La Jetée''. It stars Bruce Willis, M ...

'' (2015–2018) and as the voice of everyone else in ''

Anomalisa ''Anomalisa'' is a 2015 American adult animated film directed by Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson from a screenplay written by Kaufman, based on a 2005 audio play of the same name by Kaufman that explores the Fregoli delusion, a term that ref ...

'' (2015). Noonan is also a writer and director of theatre and film. His debut feature film '' What Happened Was'' (1994) won the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and Screenwriting Award at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

Early life

Noonan was born in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...

, the son of Rita (McGannon), a mathematics teacher, and John Noonan Sr., a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

musician and doctor of dental surgery. He had an older brother, John Ford Noonan, a

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

, and two sisters, Barbara and Nancy. Noonan was a very talented basketball player, and said "playing basketball is how I learned to perform in a lot of ways. It's how I got interested in performing... I never acted as a kid. I never did school plays. I never acted until I was 27...you learn a lot when you're in front of people and you've got a crowd going and you're doing something that you love to do. A lot of the skills that you would need for acting come through that... It's like a life and death struggle in front of people that you hope to impress."

Career

Noonan started working in theatre (appearing in the original Off-Broadway production of

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned half a century. He wrote 58 plays as well as several books of short stories, essays, ...

's play '' Buried Child''), but in the 1980s he began working in film. At tall, Noonan's imposing presence is probably responsible for his tendency to be cast as menacing villains, as in '' RoboCop 2'', ''

'', '' Manhunter'', and '' The Pledge''. His height was used for comic effect in " The Moving Finger," the series finale of the horror anthology ''

Monsters A monster is a type of imaginary or fictional creature found in literature, folklore, mythology, fiction and religion. They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

'' (several episodes of which he also directed and wrote). In 1986, Noonan played Francis Dollarhyde, a

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

who kills entire families, in

Michael Mann Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943) is an American film director, screenwriter, author and producer, best known for his stylized crime dramas. He has received a BAFTA Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards as well as nominations for four ...

's '' Manhunter'', the first movie to feature

Hannibal Lecter Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a character created by American novelist Thomas Harris. Lecter is a cannibalistic serial killer and former forensic psychiatrist; after his incarceration, he is consulted by FBI agents Will Graham and Clarice Starling ...

. Another supporting role, and another collaboration with Mann was in 1995, as Kelso in ''

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is energy in transfer between a thermodynamic system and its surroundings by such mechanisms as thermal conduction, electromagnetic radiation, and friction, which are microscopic in nature, involving sub-atomic, ato ...

''. He also played the

Frankenstein monster Frankenstein's monster, commonly referred to as Frankenstein, is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' as its main antagonist. Shelley's title compares the monster's ...

in ''

''. During the 1990s, he wrote various plays, including two that he made into movies, '' What Happened Was...'' (1994) and '' The Wife'' (1995). In the 2000s, Noonan appeared in various other movies, including a widely praised role as Sammy Barnathan in ''

'',

Charlie Kaufman Charles Stuart Kaufman (; born November 19, 1958) is an American screenwriter, film director, and novelist. Having first come to prominence for writing ''Being John Malkovich'' (1999), ''Adaptation (film), Adaptation'' (2002), and ''Eternal Sun ...

's directorial debut. Noonan has also made numerous appearances in television series, including ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to Ma ...

'' (in the much-praised 1996 episode " Paper Hearts" that was written specifically for him), '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'', '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', ''

Tales from the Darkside ''Tales from the Darkside'' is an American horror anthology television series created by George A. Romero. A pilot episode was first broadcast on October 29, 1983. The series was picked up for syndication, and the first season premiered on S ...

'' and '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' (in which he starred alongside

William Petersen William Louis Petersen (born February 21, 1953) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Gil Grissom in the CBS drama thriller series ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' (2000–2015), for which he won a Screen Actors Guild Award an ...

, who played his nemesis, Will Graham, in ''Manhunter''), and Detective Victor Huntley in ''

Damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognized at ...

''. He appeared on Blacklist as The Stew Maker, '' Louie'' as a doctor who takes the young Louie through the

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

in graphic anatomical detail. He also portrayed the Reverend Nathaniel Cole in the

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

original series '' Hell on Wheels''. In 2015, Noonan voiced all of the supporting characters in

Duke Johnson Randy "Duke" Johnson Jr. (born September 23, 1993) is an American former professional football running back who played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the third round (77th overall) ...

and

's stop-motion comedy-drama film ''

'', for which he won the

San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor The San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award given by the San Diego Film Critics Society The San Diego Film Critics Society (SDFCS) is an organization of film reviewers from San Diego–based publications that w ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* *
GreenCine Daily Podcast with Tom Noonan
for

{{DEFAULTSORT:Noonan, Tom 1951 births 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American male film actors American male television actors Living people Male actors from Greenwich, Connecticut Writers from Greenwich, Connecticut Film directors from Connecticut English-language film directors Sundance Film Festival award winners Yale University alumni David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University alumni 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors