©Courtesy of Magnet Releasing/The House of the Devil
Actor Tom Noonan, acclaimed for his villainous roles in Manhunter, Robocop 2, and The Monster Squad, died on February 14 at the age of 74. His death was announced on social media by Fred Dekker had directed him in The Monster Squad in 1987.
According to Dekker’s Facebook posting: “Tom’s indelible performance as Frankenstein in The Monster Squad is a highlight of my modest filmography, 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.”
Dekker added: “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 arduous 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.”
Born on April 12, 1951, Noonan made his acting debut in 1978, when he appeared in the original off-Broadway production of Sam Shepard’s Buried Child. Like his older brother John Ford Noonan, Jr., he also authored several plays, including What Happened Was… and Wang Dang.
But It was as an actor that Tom Noonan achieved his greatest notoriety, playing a serial killer in ManHunter, Frankenstein’s monster in The Monster Squad, and crime boss Cain in RoboCop 2. Playing the role of an assassin,he also appeared with Arnold Schwarzenegger in Last Action Hero. Other of his film roles included Sammy Barnathan in Synecdoche, New York, Mr. Ulman in The House of the Devil, and Reverend Nathaniel in Hell on Wheels. Noonan also played the villainous Tall Man/Pallid Man character in the SyFy series 12 Monkeys.
On television, Noonan appeared in a wide variety of shows, including The X-Files, Law & Order, Tales from the Darkside, CSI: Crime Scene investigation. Monsters, and The Equalizer.
In 1992, Tom Noonan married actor Karen Young. The couple divorced in 1999. From 2010 to 2015, he was married to the filmmaker Talia Lugacy.
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