Biography
Tom Noonan (born April 12, 1951) is an American actor, director, and screenwriter. He is best known for his roles 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), Reverend Nathaniel in Hell on Wheels (2011–2014), the Pallid Man in 12 Monkeys (2015–2018) and as the voice of everyone but the two main characters in Anomalisa (2015). Noonan is...
Known For
Complete Filmography

Wonderstruck
2017
as Walter
The story of a young boy in the Midwest is told simultaneously with a tale about a young girl in New York from fifty years ago as they both seek the s...

Corporate Wars: The Making of 'RoboCop 2'
2017
as Self
This retrospective features both archival and 2017 interviews with cast and crew members. It includes interviews with CG supervisor Paul M. Sammon, ex...

None of Them Are You: Crafting Anomalisa
2016
as Self
A behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson's 2015 stop-motion animated drama Anomalisa.

Anomalisa
2015
as Everyone Else (voice)
An inspirational speaker becomes reinvigorated after meeting a lively woman who shakes up his mundane existence.

Uncovering Wolfen
2015
as Self
After the huge financial and cultural success of WOODSTOCK (1970), filmmaker and political activist Michael Wadleigh spent many years in Hollywood wri...

Late Phases
2014
as Father Roger Smith
When deadly attacks from a nearby forest beset a secluded retirement community, it is up to a blind army veteran to discover what the residents are hi...

The Shape of Something Squashed
2014
as Douglas Whymper
Tom Noonan's play-turned-film 'What Happened Was...' won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for Best Dramatic Feature in 1994. Now, 20 years later, Noonan ...

The Shape of Something Squashed
2014
Director
Tom Noonan's play-turned-film 'What Happened Was...' won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for Best Dramatic Feature in 1994. Now, 20 years later, Noonan ...

Stoney
2010
as Charles Stoney
A man and his backyard.

The House of the Devil
2009
as Mr. Ulman
A young college student who’s struggling financially takes a strange babysitting job which coincides with a full lunar eclipse. She slowly realizes he...

Where the Wild Things Are
2009
Thanks
Max imagines running away from his mom and sailing to a far-off land where large talking beasts—Ira, Carol, Douglas, the Bull, Judith and Alexander—cr...

The Alphabet Killer
2008
as Ray Gullikson
Based on the true story of double killings occurring in Rochester, NY during the 80’s and the troubled police officer determined to solve them, with o...

Synecdoche, New York
2008
as Sammy Barnathan
A theater director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he attempts to create a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse as ...

Monster Squad Forever!
2007
as Himself
This is a feature-length look into the creation of the 20 year old cult-classic, Monster Squad, including interviews with writer/director Fred Dekker,...

Snow Angels
2007
as Mr. Chervenick
Waitress Annie has separated from her suicidal alcoholic husband, Glenn. Glenn has become an evangelical Christian, but his erratic attempts at gettin...

Seraphim Falls
2007
as Minister Abraham
The Civil War has ended, but Colonel Morsman Carver is on one final mission – to kill Gideon, no matter what it takes. Launched by a gunshot and prope...

Ice Cream Ants
2006
as The Thinker
The story of a man known only as Lover, who is thrust into a surreal world of strange nightmares and deadly visions.
They're Made Out of Meat
2005
as Duncan
After years of investigation, an alien meets with his partner in a diner to discuss an unbelievably shocking discovery.

The Roost
2005
as The Horror Host
Following a near-death car accident, four friends on their way to a Halloween wedding, venture to a secluded farm for help. Little do they know howeve...

The Making of 'Heat'
2005
as Self
Behind the scenes documentary on the classic Michael Mann heist film.

A Buck's Worth
2005
Gun in hand, a homeless man requests a dollar.

Hair High
2004
as Principal (voice)
Bill Plympton's gothic '50s high-school comedy about a love-triangle that goes terribly wrong. Two murdered teens return from the grave, then go to th...

Madness and Genius
2003
as Frank Donovan
Toronto International Film Festival 2003

Eight Legged Freaks
2002
as Joshua Taft (uncredited)
The residents of a rural mining town discover that an unfortunate chemical spill has caused hundreds of little spiders to mutate overnight to the size...

Knockaround Guys
2001
as Sheriff Decker
Four sons of well-known New York mobsters must retrieve a bag of cash from a small Montana town ruled by a corrupt sheriff.

Bullet In The Brain
2001
as Anders
Outspokenly critical writing teacher allows his criticism to extend to his everyday life and soon learns why that is not a good idea. While the titula...
An Unpredictable Thing
2001
Writer
Solange confesses to a conference room of silent professionals that she realizes she's not in control of anything anymore. This documentary-like prono...

Inside 'Manhunter'
2001
as Himself
A DVD Special Feature documentary on the experience of turning the chilling novel "Red Dragon" into a motion picture, all told through the actors and ...

The Pledge
2001
as Gary Jackson
A police chief about to retire pledges to help a woman find her daughter's killer.

The Opportunists
2000
as Mort Stein
Vic is a struggling auto mechanic with a safe-cracking past and a lot of debt. His girlfriend runs a bar and offers to loan him the money she's saved ...

The Photographer
2000
as Butler
A year after becoming the toast of New York City's art scene, photographer Max Martin has lost his ability to take a decent picture. On the night befo...

A Constant Forge
2000
as Self
One of the great mavericks of cinema, John Cassavetes has earned a reputation as the godfather of American independent movies. The actor-turned-filmma...

The Astronaut's Wife
1999
as Jackson McLaren
When astronaut Spencer Armacost returns to Earth after a mission that nearly cost him his life, he decides to take a desk job in order to see his beau...
Wang Dang
1999
as Mickey Hounsell
Wang Dang is the real-time story of a washed-up director who's come to an unnamed film school to speak on the adventures of his career and ends up ent...
Wang Dang
1999
Director
Wang Dang is the real-time story of a washed-up director who's come to an unnamed film school to speak on the adventures of his career and ends up ent...

Phoenix
1998
as Chicago
Gambling fever -- along with a brutal bookie -- leads three crooked cops into a double-dealing scheme that lands them in hot water way over their head...

Heat
1995
as Kelso
Obsessive master thief Neil McCauley leads a top-notch crew on various daring heists throughout Los Angeles while determined detective Vincent Hanna p...

The Wife
1995
as Jack
A sudden visit from a patient and his unstable, outrageously candid wife leads to a delirious night of shattering revelations for a husband and wife t...

The Wife
1995
Screenplay, Editor, Director
A sudden visit from a patient and his unstable, outrageously candid wife leads to a delirious night of shattering revelations for a husband and wife t...
The Pesky Suitor
1995
Editor, Producer
A girl makes friends with a nice old man and his wife, who live near her school bus stop. But after a while she starts trying to avoid him, because he...

What Happened Was...
1994
as Michael
Jackie and Michael are coworkers at a large law firm. They decide to meet at Jackie's for dinner one night.

What Happened Was...
1994
Original Music Composer, Screenplay, Director
Jackie and Michael are coworkers at a large law firm. They decide to meet at Jackie's for dinner one night.

Last Action Hero
1993
as Ripper / Tommy Noonan
After his father's death, a young boy finds solace in action movies featuring an indestructible cop. Given a magic ticket by a theater manager, he is ...

Bone Daddy
1991
Short written, directed by, and starring Tom Noonan.

Bone Daddy
1991
Director, Writer
Short written, directed by, and starring Tom Noonan.

Red Wind
1991
Writer, Producer
A psychotherapist who specializes in treating people in abusive relationships inadvertently causes a patient to kill her abusive husband.
The 10 Million Dollar Getaway
1991
as Mr. Y
Jimmy Burke and his friends steal 10 million from the Lufthansa office in New York. The FBI has no idea who the thieves are until Burke girlfriend giv...

RoboCop 2
1990
as Cain
After a successful deployment of the RoboCop Law Enforcement unit, OCP sees its goal of urban pacification come closer and closer, but as this develop...

Mystery Train
1989
as Man in Diner
In Memphis, Tennessee, over the course of a single night, the Arcade Hotel, run by an eccentric night clerk and a clueless bellboy, is visited by a yo...

Collision Course
1989
as Scully
A Japanese investigator and a Detroit cop team up to track down a stolen prototype turbocharger.

Stephen King's Monster Stories
1988

The Monster Squad
1987
as Frankenstein
Count Dracula adjourns to Earth, accompanied by Frankenstein's Monster, the Wolfman, the Mummy, and the Gillman. The uglies are in search of a powerfu...

Manhunter
1986
as Francis Dollarhyde
FBI Agent Will Graham, who retired after catching Hannibal Lecter, returns to duty to engage in a risky cat-and-mouse game with Lecter to capture a ne...

F/X
1986
as Varrick
A movies special effects man is hired by a government agency to help stage the assassination of a well known gangster. When the agency double cross hi...

Tom Goes to the Bar
1985
as Tom
It's business as usual at the bar. Suddenly, a man drops down from the top of the screen and hangs upside down at the bar. The bartender reacts as if ...

The Man with One Red Shoe
1985
as Reese
A man is mistaken as a spy by the CIA when he arrives at the airport with one red shoe.

The Odds
1984
as Bill Lacey
Bookie never refuses a bet. Bettor only bets long shots and beats impossible odds each time. Bookie's latest bet is that bettor will die of natural ca...

The Odds
1984
Music
Bookie never refuses a bet. Bettor only bets long shots and beats impossible odds each time. Bookie's latest bet is that bettor will die of natural ca...

Best Defense
1984
as Holtzman
An engineer fails to get the bugs out of a tank before an Army officer has to use it in Kuwait.
Doris and Inez Speak the Truth
1984
His queer performance melodrama Doris and Inez Speak the Truth, adapted from a Squat Theatre production, centers on two weary transgender characters s...

Easy Money
1983
as Paddy
To inherit his mother-in-law's colossal fortune, a hard living gambling addict must change his unhealthy ways before it gets the best of him.

Eddie Macon's Run
1983
as Darryl Potts
Eddie Macon is running from a nightmare... running to a dream... running for his life and his time is running out. He's escaped a Texas prison for the...

Wolfen
1981
as Ferguson
A New York City cop and an expert criminologist trying to solve a series of grisly deaths in which the victims have seemingly been maimed by feral ani...

Heaven's Gate
1980
as Jake
Harvard graduate James Averill serves as the sheriff of prosperous Jackson County, Wyo., standing at the center of a conflict between impoverished imm...

Gloria
1980
as 2nd Man / Gangster
When a young boy's family is killed by the mob, their tough neighbor Gloria becomes his reluctant guardian. In possession of a book that the gangsters...

Rage!
1980
as Bo
In an attempt to be rehabilitated, a rapist goes to therapy while in prison.

Willie & Phil
1980
as Man In Park
Life imitates art when two Manhattanites — pompous teacher Willie and quiet photographer Phil — become friends after a thought-provoking screening of ...