James Noble
Acting • Born 1922-03-05 – Died 2016-03-28
Biography
The son of a Dallas wholesale coal dealer, Noble spent much of his youth attending pool halls and movie houses. He retained his expertise with a pool cue throughout his life, while his stronger interest in acting (fueled by movies) manifested itself in local stage productions and drama studies at Southern Methodist University. Following Navy service in World War II, Noble went to New York to study at the Actors Studio, then went on to a stage revival of Pygmalion wherein he met his future wife, actress Carolyn Coates. The actor appeared on such TV soap operas as As the World Turns (1956), A World Apart (1970) and such Broadway productions as "1776" (a role he took to the movie 1776 (1972)), spending much of his spare time in psychotherapy to handle his ongoing feelings of self-doubt. In films from the mid '70s, Noble principally played small roles as authority figures and politicians (Being There (1979), The Nude Bomb (1980)), with occasional larger roles. such as Bo Derek's father in 10 (1979). In 1979, Noble was cast as the genially absent-minded "Governor Gene Gatling" on the sitcom, Benson (1979), a role in which he remained until the series' 1986 cancellation. Two years later, he resurfaced on TV in the role of a Nebraska-based recording engineer on the very short-lived sitcom, First Impressions (1988).
Filmography
56 credits
Breaking Up
Movie • 1978
Haberle
Dempsey
Movie • 1983
Gavin McNab
10
Movie • 1979
Dr. Miles
The Day My Kid Went Punk
Movie • 1987
Max Smiley
Summer of My German Soldier
Movie • 1978
Pierce
The Sporting Club
Movie • 1971
Canon Pritchard
Dragonfly
Movie • 1976
Dr. Lee
What's So Bad About Feeling Good?
Movie • 1968
Board Member
Paramedics
Movie • 1988
Chief Wilkins
Lovey: A Circle of Children, Part II
Movie • 1978
Ed
Being There
Movie • 1979
Kaufman
This Is Kate Bennett...
Movie • 1982
Tom Fairmont
The Absent-Minded Professor: Trading Places
Movie • 1989
Dr. Gilmore Blount
You Talkin' to Me?
Movie • 1987
Peter Archer
Baby Comes Home
Movie • 1980
Dr. Elliott Olsen
Bang
Movie • 1995
Rooftop Dealer
Night of 100 Stars II
Movie • 1985
Self
Who?
Movie • 1974
General Deptford
1776
Movie • 1972
Rev. John Witherspoon (NJ)
When the Bough Breaks
Movie • 1986
Dr. Warren Towle
Cinderella
Movie • 1985
King Rupert III
Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again
Movie • 1990
Mr. Hyrum Lodge
Promises in the Dark
Movie • 1979
Dr. Blankenship
A Tiger's Tale
Movie • 1988
Sinclair
Fake
Movie • 2011
Mr. Rousseau
Chances Are
Movie • 1989
Dr. Bailey
Deadly Deception
Movie • 1987
Ed Shoat
Death Play
Movie • 1976
The Woman Who Willed a Miracle
Movie • 1983
Dr. Edwards
Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam
Movie • 1987
Leonard Weeks
Born Kicking
Movie • 1992
Hudson
Airplane II: The Sequel
Movie • 1982
Father O'Flanagan
Hart to Hart
Movie • 1979
Dr. Metz
Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me
Movie • 1971
Father Pettis
Faerie Tale Theatre: Cinderella
Movie • 1985
King Rupert III
They Bite
Movie • 1996
Scientist #1
Murder, She Wrote
TV • 1984
Paul Carlisle
Law & Order
TV • 1990
Judge Nelson Kurland
Starsky & Hutch
TV • 1975
Treasury Agent Kendall
Perfect Strangers
TV • 1986
The Love Boat
TV • 1977
Benson
TV • 1979
Governor Eugene Xavier Gatling
The Bill
TV • 1984
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
TV • 1983
Beech is Back
TV • 2001
McCloud
TV • 1970
The Defenders
TV • 1961
Ron Mayberry
A World Apart
TV • 1970
First Impressions
TV • 1988
Raymond Voss
ABC Afterschool Special
TV • 1972
Max Smiley
The Andros Targets
TV • 1977
Tierney
Peak Practice
TV • 1993
Mr. Naughton
Father Dowling Mysteries
TV • 1989
Judge Karnes
The Love Boat
TV • 1977
Martin Corell
Faerie Tale Theatre
TV • 1982
King Rupert III
The Adams Chronicles
TV • 1976
Jonathan Sewall