Tom Noonan

Tom Noonan
Noonan at the Big Apple Convention in Manhattan, October 17, 2009
Born	(1951 -04-12) April 12, 1951 (age 65) Greenwich, Connecticut
Years active	1980–present
Spouse(s)	Karen Young (1992–1999; divorced; 2 children)

Tom Noonan (born April 12, 1951) is an American actor, director, and screenwriter, perhaps best known for his role as Francis Dolarhyde in Manhunter, Cain in RoboCop 2 and as The Ripper in Last Action Hero.

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.

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. Most recently, he originally voiced one of the Wild Things in director Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are, but was replaced by Chris Cooper.