Tom Noonan (born April 12, 1951) is an American actor and film writer-director.
Noonan was born in Greenwich, Connecticut to Rosalee and Tom Noon, who worked as a dentist and jazz musician. He has an older brother, John Ford Noonan, a playwright, and two sisters, Rosemary and Caroline.
Noonan started working in theatre (appearing in the original Off-Broadway production Sam Shepard's play Buried Child), but in the 1980s he began working in film. Six-foot-six-inches in height, Noonan's imposing presence is probably responsible for his tendency to be cast as menacing villains, such as in RoboCop 2 and Last Action Hero.
In 1986, Noonan played Francis Dolarhyde, a serial killer who kills entire families, in Manhunter, the first movie to feature Hannibal Lecter. To date, it is his most recognizable leading role. His biggest supporting role was in 1995, when he portrayed Kelso in Heat. During the 1990s, he wrote various plays, including two that he made into movies, What Happened Was... (1994) and The Wife (1995).
Noonan has also made numerous appearances in television shows, including The X-Files, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Tales From The Darkside and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (in which he starred alongside William Petersen, who played his nemesis, Will Graham, in Manhunter).
