Tom Noonan, Manhunter & RoboCop 2 Star, Dies at 74

Tom Noonan, the actor, writer, and director best known to many film and TV fans for his many villainous roles, has passed away. News of his death was shared online by filmmaker Fred Dekker, who previously worked with Noonan on The Monster Squad, and Karen Silas, his co-star in What Happened Was…, which he also wrote and directed. Noonan was 74.

Born in Greenwich, Connecticut, Noonan was best known for his tall stature in Hollywood, standing 6′ 5″, a fact that led to him playing basketball at a young age, which eventually led to him becoming an actor. Noonan began acting in the theater but quickly became a film star in the 1980s, with his first three credits being Paul Mazursky’s Willie & Phil, John Cassavetes’s Gloria, and Michael Cimino’s infamous flop, Heaven’s Gate.

Tom Noonan Dies at 74

His career really took off in 1986, though, when the actor was hired to play Francis Dollarhyde in Michael Mann’s Manhunter, the first adaptation of Thomas Harris’ novel Red Dragon. Noonan would collaborate with Mann again in his 1995 thriller Heat, playing Kelso, a member of Robert De Niro’s crew. Manhunter would prove to be the cornerstone for Noonan’s entire career, though, setting the stage for a slew of villains across his filmography, including Cain in RoboCop 2, The Ripper in Last Action Hero, Mr. Ulman in The House of the Devil, and the Pallid Man in the 12 Monkeys TV series.

This wasn’t the entirety of his career, though, as Noonan would use it to flip the script on the audience’s expectations, like when he starred in The Monster Squad as Frankenstein’s Monster. In his post about Noonan’s death, Dekker recalled how he approached him for the role, noting he didn’t want a campy take on Frankenstein but a serious one, eventually comparing it to Lenny from Of Mice and Men.

“Somehow or other, this appealed to Tom who, like most great actors, enjoy playing roles with contradictions and challenges (and a reference to a classic novel and movie never hurts),” Dekker wrote. “In the end, he found the make-up ardous and annoying (he was fond of tearing it off after we wrapped, and one night didn’t even bother to take it off; just drove home in his Frankenstein appliance). But all in all, he was the proverbial gentleman and scholar, and the world has lost a great talent.”

Noonan was also a frequent collaborator of the surrealist filmmaker Charlie Kaufman, starring in his 2008 drama Synecdoche, New York, but also contributing the majority of the voices to the 2015 animated film Anomalisa. In the movie, a motivational speaker perceives the world in a unique way, where everyone looks and sounds the same (all of which are voiced by Noonan), until he meets Lisa (voiced by Jennifer Jason Leigh).

His career wasn’t just on the big screen though, with Noonan also bringing his gravitas and charm to television as well. One of his most distinct performances, which fit into the villain stable he usually operated in, was as serial killer John Lee Roche on The X-Files, appearing in an episode that had major mythology implications for the series. Noonan would also appear in shows like Hell on Wheels, The Blacklist, and The Leftovers.

Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this time.