Tom Noonan, character actor known for ‘Manhunter’ and ‘Heat,’ dead at 74

Tom Noonan, the towering character actor, playwright and filmmaker whose chilling portrayals of outsiders and villains made him one of Hollywood’s most distinctive presences, died on Saturday. He was 74. No cause of death was immediately available.

The news was confirmed by former co-star Karen Sillas, who shared the announcement on Instagram, and by Fred Dekker, director of “The Monster Squad” (1987), in which Mr. Noonan played Frankenstein’s monster.

Born on April 12, 1951, in Greenwich, Connecticut, Noonan was the son of John Noonan, a jazz musician and dentist, and Rita Noonan, a mathematics teacher. He began his career in theater, including a role in the original off-Broadway production of Sam Shepard’s “Buried Child,” before transitioning to film and earning a reputation for playing quietly menacing figures.

Standing 6 feet, 5 inches, Mr. Noonan made an immediate impact with his breakthrough role as serial killer Francis Dollarhyde in Michael Mann’s “Manhunter” (1986), the first film to feature Hannibal Lecter on screen. The performance helped define the screen portrayal of Thomas Harris’ infamous antagonist and established Mr. Noonan as a formidable screen villain.

A year later, Mr. Dekker cast him as Frankenstein’s monster in “The Monster Squad.” Mr. Dekker, who recalled being “knocked out” by Mr. Noonan’s work in “Manhunter,” said on Facebook that nabbing the actor for the role felt like a long shot — but Mr. Noonan agreed to meet and ultimately accepted the part, despite finding the elaborate Stan Winston-designed makeup “arduous and annoying.” Mr. Dekker remembered him as “the proverbial gentleman and scholar” and said, “The world has lost a great talent.”

Mr. Noonan continued building his villainous filmography, playing drug kingpin Cain in “RoboCop 2” (1990) and the Ripper in John McTiernan’s “Last Action Hero” (1993). He maintained his collaboration with Mr. Mann, portraying hacker Kelso opposite Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in the acclaimed crime drama “Heat” (1995).

Beyond acting, Mr. Noonan carved out a significant legacy as a writer and director. His 1994 film “What Happened Was…,” adapted from his own stage play and co-starring Ms. Sillas, premiered at Sundance and won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Screenwriting Award. The intimate two-hander became a touchstone of 1990s American independent cinema. He followed it with “The Wife” (1995), also adapted from one of his plays.

In the 2000s, Mr. Noonan earned critical acclaim for his role as Sammy Barnathan in Charlie Kaufman’s directorial debut “Synecdoche, New York,” and as Gary Jackson in Sean Penn’s “The Pledge” (2001), which premiered at Cannes. In 2015, he lent his voice to all the supporting characters in Mr. Kaufman’s and Duke Johnson’s stop-motion film “Anomalisa,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

His television credits included “The X-Files,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” “Damages” and “Hell on Wheels.”

Mr. Noonan is survived by two children. He was previously married to actress Karen Young (“The Sopranos”) from 1992 to 1999. His older brother, playwright John Ford Noonan, who won a writing Emmy for “St. Elsewhere,” died in 2018.