Tom Noonan, the character actor known for his roles in “Heat,” “Manhunter” and “Monster Squad,” has died, according to social media posts by friends. According to his IMDB page, he was 74 years old.
Noonan’s “Monster Squad” director Fred Decker shared the news of Noonan’s death in a Feb. 17 Facebook post. “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Tom Noonan (April 12, 1951 – February 14, 2026),” he wrote.
Decker went on to praise Noonan’s “unforgettable performance” in the 1987 horror-comedy film in which he played Frankenstein’s monster. After seeing Decker play serial killer Francis Dolarhyde, also known as the “Tooth Fairy,” in Michael Mann’s 1986 horror film Manhunter, Decker was “knocked out” and Noonan was cast in the role.
“He found makeup hard and messy (he liked to take it off after we wrapped, and one night he didn’t even take it off and drove home in a Frankenstein appliance),” Decker recalled in the post. “But all in all, he was the proverbial gentleman and scholar, and the world has lost a great talent. Rest in peace Tom. Thank you for the great work.”
USA TODAY has reached out to Noonan’s representative for comment.
Mann, who directed Noonan in Manhunter as well as the Oscar-winning 1995 crime thriller Heat, starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer and Jon Voight, spoke of their “magical” meeting and paid tribute to him on February 18.
“I’m so sad that Tom Noonan has passed away. When we were casting Manhunter, we auditioned 10 to 15 actors in New York and Tom walked in the door and said, ‘I don’t want to talk. I just want to read.’ He read the book, and it was magical,” Munn wrote in a social media post.
“I based[Dolarhyde]less on a character in the novel and more on a convicted murderer I met and corresponded with who lived in Vacaville. I brought Tom into that world and he made it his own,” the post continued.
“Casting the wheelchair-bound Tom in ‘Heat’ as Kelso was a natural. He has done better work, but when an abused child becomes a killer adult, when both live in the same bottle, he projected the range and deep soul of this incredibly astute and dedicated artist. Rest in Peace, Tom.”
Actor Jerry O’Connell also paid tribute to Noonan, calling him a “legend” in an Instagram post.
He wrote, “My first TV interview was with Tom Noonan on a local New York show called MIDDAY(?). I was very nervous. Tom was very nice. I saw him in every play he did (in New York) after that. He bought me and my brother tickets to Eddie Murphy’s RAW (we were too young to buy them).”
Tom Noonan became a familiar on-screen villain after playing the Tooth Fairy in ‘Manhunter’
Noonan got used to playing antagonists in front of the camera after his breakout role in Manhunter, an adaptation of Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon, the first Hannibal Lecter novel. Noonan played the main villain Kane in 1990’s RoboCop 2 and the Ripper in 1993’s The Last Action Hero.
In addition to his film roles (including “Heaven’s Gate,” “Seraphim Falls,” and “New York Synecdoche”), Noonan also appeared on television in the AMC series “Hell on Wheels,” “The X-Files,” “CSI,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Louie,” and “The Blacklist.” HBO’s animated comedy series “Animals.”
Off-screen, Noonan is a playwright who adapted his stage play “What Happened Was…” into a 1994 independent film co-starring Karen Silas that received critical acclaim at that year’s Sundance Film Festival. This was followed by 1995’s The Wife, which was based on his play The Wife.
