R.I.P., Tom Noonan

 

R.I.P. to Tom Noonan, one of the all-time great character actors, who sometimes played a gentle giant, but mostly a series of unspeakably frightening/whispering menaces, whose performances in THE MONSTER SQUAD, COLLISION COURSE, EIGHT-LEGGED FREAKS, GLORIA, HEAVEN'S GATE, and MANHUNTER have been much discussed on this site. I never publicly reviewed his amazing directorial debut, WHAT HAPPENED WAS, or his seminal roles in LAST ACTION HERO, HEAT, ANOMALISA, or ROBOCOP 2. I occasionally saw him as an audience member at performances of downtown NYC theater, trying not to draw attention to himself (his lanky and iconic 6'6'' frame made that difficult!) as he supported local and underground theater artists. I have no other choice than to deem him one of the coolest to ever do it.