Years active 1980–present Name Tom Noonan | Role Actor Height 1.96 m | |
 | ||
Parents Tom Noonan, Rosaleen Noonan Siblings John Ford Noonan, Nancy Noonan, Barbara Noonan Movies and TV shows Similar People Charlie Kaufman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ti West, Eddie Spears, Michael Mann | ||
Actor tom noonan discusses his career and horror manhunter
Tom Noonan (born April 12, 1951) is an American actor, director, and screenwriter, perhaps best known for his role as Francis Dolarhyde in Manhunter (1986), Frankenstein's Monster in The Monster Squad (1987), Cain in RoboCop 2 (1990), The Ripper in Last Action Hero (1993), Sammy Barnathan in Synecdoche, New York (2008) and as the voice of Everyone else in Anomalisa (2015).
Contents
- Actor tom noonan discusses his career and horror manhunter
- Fab minute tom noonan of the paradise factory
- Early life
- Career
- References
Fab minute tom noonan of the paradise factory
Early life
Noonan was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, the son of Rosaleen Noonan, a dentist, and Tom Noonan, a jazz musician. He has an older brother, John Ford Noonan, a playwright, and two sisters, Barbara and Nancy.
Career
Noonan started working in theatre (appearing in the original Off-Broadway production of Sam Shepard's play Buried Child), but in the 1980s he began working in film. At 6 feet, 5 inches (196 cm), Noonan's imposing presence is probably responsible for his tendency to be cast as menacing villains, as in RoboCop 2, Last Action Hero, Manhunter, and The Pledge. His height was used for comic effect in "The Moving Finger," the series finale of the horror anthology Monsters (several episodes of which he also directed and wrote).
In 1986, Noonan played Francis Dolarhyde, a serial killer who kills entire families, in Michael Mann's Manhunter, the first movie to feature Hannibal Lecter. Another supporting role, and another collaboration with director Michael Mann was in 1995, as Kelso in Heat. He also played the Frankenstein monster in The Monster Squad. 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 Synecdoche, New York, Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut.
Noonan has also made numerous appearances in television series, including The X-Files (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 and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (in which he starred alongside William Petersen, who played his nemesis, Will Graham, in Manhunter), and Detective Victor Huntley in Damages. He recently appeared on Louie as a doctor who takes the young Louie through the crucifixion in graphic anatomical detail. He also portrayed the Reverend Nathaniel Cole in the AMC original series Hell on Wheels.
In 2015, Noonan voiced all of the supporting characters in Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman's stop-motion comedy-drama film Anomalisa, for which he won the San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor.