Tom Noonan obit

Tom Noonan Dies: ‘Robocop 2’, ‘Manhunter’, ‘Monster Squad’ Actor Was 74

 

He was not on the list.

Tom Noonan, an actor who launched his career on the New York stage in the original 1978 Off Broadway production of Sam Shepard’s Buried Child before pivoting to indelible film performances as menacing villains in Manhunter, Robocop 2, Last Action Hero and The Monster Squad, died Saturday, February 14. He was 74.

His death was confirmed on social media by Karen Sillas, his co-star in the 1992 play What Happened Was… and its 1994 Sundance award-winning film adaptation, and Fred Dekker, director of 1987’s The Monster Squad. Additional details on his passing, including a cause of death, were not immediately available, but Silas noted in her post that Noonan passed away peacefully.

“Tom’s indelible performance as Frankenstein in The Monster Squad is a highlight of my modest filmography,” Dekker wrote on Facebook, adding, “Having been knocked out by his performance as Francis Dollarhyde in Michael Mann’s Manhunter, I desperately wanted Tom to read the script and consider the part, but I knew that nabbing him was probably a long shot. Nonetheless, he agreed to meet me at his Hollywood apartment to discuss the role.

“I knew the first thing a serious actor would want to know was that my vision for Frankenstein was serious and not ‘campy.’..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. R.I.P. Tom. Thanks for the great work.”

A noted playwright (in addition to What Happened Was…, he wrote 1993’s Wifey and 1999’s Wang Dang, among others), Noonan was born April 12, 1951 in Greenwich, Connecticut, the younger brother of John Ford Noonan Jr., who himself would go on to a successful playwriting career (A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking, The Year Boston Won the Pennant) and TV success (the elder Noonan was Emmy-nominated for his screenwriting work on St. Elsewhere).

The younger Noonan would become even more recognizable than his brother, with scene-stealing performances as a serial killer in Manhunter (1986), as Frankenstein’s Monster in The Monster Squad (1987), crime boss Cain in RoboCop 2 (1990), the assassin The Ripper in Last Action Hero starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, (1993), hacker Kelso in Heat (1995), Sammy Barnathan in Synecdoche, New York (2008), Mr. Ulman in The House of the Devil (2009), and the peace-seeking Reverend Nathaniel in Hell on Wheels (2011–2014). In the SyFy series 12 Monkeys, he played the villain variously known as The Tall Man and The Pallid Man (2015–2018) and he provided voices for the Charlie Kaufman-Duke Johnson animated film Anomalisa (2015).

Noonan’s earliest film roles were small parts in a trio of 1980 films helmed by heavyweight directors: Paul Mazursky’s Willie & Phil, Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate and John Cassavetes’ Gloria.

Noonan also was a prolific TV presence, with appearances on The X-Files (he played an incarcerated serial killer in the notable “Paper Hearts” 1996 episode), Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Tales from the Darkside and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the latter seeing his reteaming with Manhunter star William Petersen).

Other TV credits include Damages, Louie, The Leftovers, Monsters, The Equalizer and Early Edition, among many others.

Noonan was married to actor Karen Young from 1992 until their divorce in 1999. Complete information on survivors was not immediately available.

Filmography

Film

Year     Title     Role     Notes

1980    Willie & Phil   Man In Park   

Gloria  2nd Man - Gangster   

Heaven's Gate Jake    

1981    Wolfen Ferguson        

1983    Eddie Macon's Run     Daryl Potts     

Easy Money    Paddy 

1984    Best Defense   Frank Holtzman         

1985    The Man with One Red Shoe Reese  

Tom Goes to the Bar   Unknown        Short film

1986    F/X      Varrick

Manhunter       Francis Dollarhyde     

1987    The Monster Squad     Frankenstein's Monster          

1989    Collision Course         Scully 

Mystery Train  Man in Arcade Diner  Segment: "A Ghost"

1990    RoboCop 2      Cain / RoboCain        

1993    Last Action Hero         Ripper / Tommy Noonan       

1994    What Happened Was...            Michael           Also writer, director, editor and composer

1995    Heat     Kelso  

The Wife         Jack     Also writer, director, editor and composer

1998    Phoenix           Chicago          

1999    The Astronaut's Wife   Jackson McLaren       

Wang Dang     Mickey Hounsell         Unreleased; also writer and director

2000    The Opportunists         Mort Stein      

The Photographer        Butler 

2001    The Pledge      Gary Jackson  

Knockaround Guys     Sheriff Decker

Bullet in the Brain       Anders Short film

2002    Eight Legged Freaks   Joshua Taft      Uncredited

2003    The Egoists     Bryon Bradley

Madness and Genius   Frank Donovan          

2004    Hair High        Principal          Voice

2005    The Roost        Horror Host    

They're Made Out of Meat      Duncan            Short film

2006    Seraphim Falls            Minister Abraham      

2007    Snow Angels   Mr. Chervenick          

2008    The Alphabet Killer    Ray Gullikson

Synecdoche, New York           Sammy Barnathan      

2009    The House of the Devil           Mr. Ulman      

2010    Follow the Prophet      Brother John  

The Rendezvous         —N/a  Writer

2012    The Pilgrim & The Private Eye          Leche  Short film

Skinhead Requiem      Priest

2014    Late Phases     Father Roger Smith    

The Shape of Something Squashed    Douglas Whymper      Also writer and director

2015    Anomalisa       Everyone else  Voice

2017    Wonderstruck  Older Walter   

Television

Year     Title     Role     Notes

1980    Rage!   Bo       Television film

1984    Tales from the Darkside          Bill Lacey       Episode: "The Odds"

1989    The Equalizer  Brandon Thorton         Episode: "Making of a Martyr"

1991    Red Wind        —N/a  Television film; writer and producer

The Ten Million Dollar Getaway        Mr. Y   Television film

Monsters          Howard Mitla  Episode: "The Moving Finger"; Also wrote and directed two episodes

1994    Heaven and Hell: North and South, Book III Will Fenway   3 episodes

1996    Early Edition   Frank Price      Episode: "Pilot"

The X-Files     John Lee Roche          Episode: "Paper Hearts"

2000    The Beat          Howard Schmidt         13 episodes

2002    CSI: Crime Scene Investigation          Zephyr Episode: "Abra Cadaver"

2003    Law & Order: Criminal Intent            Malcolm Bryce           Episode: "Graansha"

2004    The Jury          Marty McMahon         Episode: "The Honeymoon Suite"

2005    Jonny Zero      Chucky            Episode: "No Good Deed"

2007    Kidnapped       Gibson Episode: "Do Unto Others"

2008    Law & Order: Special Victims Unit   Jake Berlin      Episode: "Confession"

2009–2011      Damages         Detective Victor Huntley        17 episodes

2010    Louie   Dr. Haveford   Episode: "God"

2011    The Cape         Preston Holloway       2 episodes

Bar Karma       Caleb   Episode: "Man Walks Out of a Bar"

2011–2014      Hell on Wheels            Reverend Nathaniel Cole        17 episodes

2013–2014      The Blacklist   The Stewmaker           2 episodes: "The Stewmaker", "The Decembrist"

2014    How and Why Man in Black Parka    Pilot

The Leftovers  Casper Episode: "The Guest"

2015–2018      12 Monkeys    Pallid Man       18 episodes

2016    Horace and Pete          Tom     3 episodes

Quarry Oldcastle

2017    Dimension 404            Bob     Voice; Episode: "Bob"

2018    Animals.          Phil's Dad        Voice; Episode: "The Democratic People's Republic of Kitty City"