The Late Tom Noonan Was Every Genre Fan's Favorite Actor

The movie world has lost another legend, as Tom Noonan passed away aged 74 on February 14, 2026. The beloved character actor enjoyed a long and illustrious career, starring in films like "Last Action Hero," "Heat," and "Synecdoche, New York." However, he holds a special place in the hearts of genre fans thanks to his turns in some pretty awesome horror, fantasy, and sci-fi movies.

Picking Noonan's best performances is tricky as he had so many good ones. That said, his outing as a creepy Satanic cult leader in Ti West's breakout horror movie "The House of the Devil" is especially good — and social media agrees.

"The first time I ever saw Noonan was in House of the Devil," wrote one fan on X (formerly known as Twitter). "I've had a ridiculous amount of repeat watches of that movie, and his performance still unnerves me every single time."

Another standout Noonan career moment is his performance in "Manhunter," which is arguably the best of all of the Hannibal Lecter movies. In this one, he plays the serial killer Francis Dollarhyde, who some X/Twitter users believe is one of the all-time great on screen villains. As one fan noted:

"Tom Noonan gives one of my all-time favorite performances in 'Manhunter,' his Dollarhyde is pitch-perfect: somehow both utterly terrifying and heartbreakingly human."

Some of Noonan's other notable genre movie credits include Fred Dekker's "The Monster Squad," where he delivers an utterly charming performance as Frankenstein's Creature. He's also the highlight of the underrated "RoboCop 2," playing Cain, a villain-turned-cyborg who goes up against the eponymous law enforcement machine. The list of great movie performances goes on, but some fans also fondly remember Noonan's work in small screen genre fare.

One of Tom Noonan's most acclaimed television roles is his guest appearance on "The X-Files." He can be found in season 4's "Paper Hearts" episode portraying a creepy and sinister child predator named John Lee Roche. Given that Noonan specialized in playing creeps, it's unsurprising to learn that his performance left a lasting impact on fans of the show. Here's what one X user had to say about it:

"Tom Noonan played one of the best antagonists that 'The X-Files' ever had. Made you absolutely despise him through the screen with how cold he was. 'Paper Hearts' will always be in my Top 5 episodes."

Elsewhere, some TV sci-fi aficionados recalled his role in the criminally underwatched "12 Monkeys" TV series. "He was terrifying and captivating as The Pallid Man in the fantastic yet underseen '12 Monkeys' TV show," one X user opined.

If there's one thing all of these opinions have in common, it's that Noonan was stellar — and often the highlight — of every movie and TV show he was in. He was impressively good at playing villains, too, making him the perfect actor for genre fare.