Tom Noonan Franco Origlia/Getty Images Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Tom Noonan, the actor-writer-director best known for roles in Manhunter, The Monster Squad and Heat, has died. He was 74. Noonan died Saturday on Valentine's Day, according to Fred Dekker, director of The Monster Squad (1987), in which the actor played Frankenstein's monster. No cause of death was immediately available. Dekker wrote on Facebook: "It's with great sadness that I share the passing of Tom Noonan ... Tom's indelible performance as Frankenstein in The Monster Squad is a highlight of my modest filmography, doubtless aided by the masterful make-up designed by Stan Winston, sculpted by Tom Woodruff Jr., and applied by Zoltan Elek. Related Stories Movies Jane Baer, Animator on 'Sleeping Beauty,' 'The Rescuers' and 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit,' Dies at 91 Movies Frederick Wiseman, Oscar-Winning Documentarian, Dies at 96 "Having been knocked out by his performance as Francis Dollarhyde in Michael Mann's Manhunter," Dekker continued, "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," he added, detailing how he pitched the role to Noonan. "In the end, he found the make-up ardous [sic] 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." Noonan was born on April 12, 1951, in Greenwich, Connecticut. His father, John, was a jazz musician and doctor of dental surgery, and his mother, Rita, was a mathematics teacher. He began working in theater, including in the original off-Broadway production of Sam Shepard's Buried Child, but swiftly moved into film and earned a reputation for playing frightening villains. He was serial killer Francis Dollarhyde in Michael Mann's Manhunter, (1986), the first film to feature Hannibal Lecter, and a year later starred in Dekker's The Monster Squad. The 6-foot-5 Noonan played drug kingpin Cain in RoboCop 2 (1990) and the Ripper in Last Action Hero (1993) by John McTiernan. He continued collaborating with Mann and portrayed Kelso the hacker opposite Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in crime drama Heat (1995). During the 1990s, Noonan wrote plays, including two that were later adapted into movies: What Happened Was... (1994) and The Wife (1995). In the 2000s, Noonan received critical acclaim for his roles as Sammy Barnathan in Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut Synecdoche, New York, and as Gary Jackson in the Cannes-premiering Jack Nicholson feature The Pledge (2001), directed by Sean Penn. Noonan's TV appearances included The X-Files, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Special Victims Unit, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Damages and Hell on Wheels. In 2015, he voiced all the supporting characters in Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman's stop-motion comedy-drama film Anomalisa, which premiered at that year's Toronto International Film Festival. As a writer and director of theater and film, Noonan saw relative success. With his debut feature Willie & Phil (1980), he won Sundance's Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and Screenwriting Award. His older brother, John Ford Noonan, who wrote the off-Broadway hit A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking and won a writing Emmy for an episode of St. Elsewhere, died in 2018. He was married to actress Karen Young (The Sopranos, Daylight) from 1992 until their 1999 divorce. Survivors include his daughter, Wanda, and a son. 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