Tom Noonan, Actor and Sundance-Winning Filmmaker, Dies at 74

Tom Noonan, the actor known for his haunting performances in Manhunter, The Monster Squad, and his work as a writer-director, has died at the age of 74.

His passing on February 14, 2026, was confirmed by Fred Dekker, the director of The Monster Squad in which Noonan played Frankenstein’s Monster.

Born April 12, 1951, in Greenwich, Connecticut, Noonan began his artistic life in theatre before transitioning into film and television. He built a reputation as a distinctive character actor, often portraying complex, unsettling or physically imposing characters.

Noonan’s breakthrough on film came with his chilling performance as serial killer Francis Dolarhyde in Michael Mann’s Manhunter (1986), the first movie adaptation of Thomas Harris’s Red Dragon.

He went on to appear in a series of notable films across genres. In RoboCop 2 (1990), he played the menacing villain Cain, while in The Monster Squad (1987) he portrayed Frankenstein’s monster, blending horror and camp in a cult classic favourite. Other credits included roles in Last Action Hero (1993), Michael Mann’s Heat (1995), and Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York (2008).

In addition to his work as an actor, Noonan was a respected writer and director. He wrote, directed, and starred in What Happened Was… (1994), a deeply intimate film adapted from his own stage play that won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

Noonan remained active into the 2010s, appearing in films such as Anomalisa (2015), where he provided voice work for multiple characters in director Charlie Kaufman’s acclaimed stop-motion film. His last released film credit was Wonderstruck (2017), in which he played Walter, contributing to the heartfelt adaptation of Brian Selznick’s novel directed by Todd Haynes.