Character actor Tom Noonan, 74, died on Feb. 14. The tall, cadaverous Noonan (not to be confused with comic actor/director Tommy Noonan) appeared in such films and TV shows as Manhunter (as serial killer Francis Dollarhyde), The Monster Squad (as Frankenstein’s), RoboCop 2, Last Action Hero, Heat, Synecdoche, New York, The House of the Devil, Hell on Wheels, and 12 Monkeys. The brother of actor and playwright John Ford Noonan, Tom didn’t begin acting till his late 20s: he appeared Off-Broadway in Buried Child, Spookhouse, and Intrigue with Faye, and began his film career in 1980 as a bit player (Gloria, Heaven’s Gate). Noonan claimed he gathered together his acting skills through playing basketball as a teen: “It's how I got interested in performing... I never acted as a kid. I never did school plays. You learn a lot [as a basketball player] 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.” He was married (from 1992-1999) to actress Karen Young; they had two children.
