Actor Tom Noonan dead at 74; starred in ‘Manhunter,’ ‘The Monster Squad,’ more

A beloved character actor is dead at age 74, according to two people that worked with him.

Tom Noonan, best known for roles in “Manhunter,” “The Monster Squad” and “RoboCop 2,” died on Saturday, Feb. 14, “The Monster Squad” director Fred Dekker and his former co-star Karen Sillas said on social media. A cause of death was not announced.

“My dear friend and costar, Tom Noonan passed peacefully on Valentine’s Day 2026. Working with him in his original off Broadway play, ‘What Happened Was…,’ at the Paradise Factory Theater in the early nineties, was a turning point for me and my career that still resonates throughout my life and work as an actor,” Sillas said in a since-deleted Instagram tribute. “Little did I know when we shot it as a film a year later, we would be creating one of 1990’s most iconic Indies in American cinema. What a privilege and crazy fun it was working with this man and calling him my friend to the end… may his Legacy continue to shine on.”

“Tom’s indelible performance as Frankenstein in ‘The Monster Squad’ is a highlight of my modest filmography,” said Dekker, who also co-wrote the 1987 film with Shane Black.

Dekker said he appealed to Noonan by comparing the character to Lenny in Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men,” promising to treat the movie monster seriously.

“Somehow or other, this appealed to Tom who, like most great actors, enjoy playing roles with contradictions and challenges (and a reference to a classic novel and movie never hurts),” Dekker recalled. “In the end, he found the make-up ardous and annoying (he was fond of tearing it off after we wrapped, and one night didn’t even bother to take it off; just drove home in his Frankenstein appliance). But all in all, he was the proverbial gentleman and scholar, and the world has lost a great talent. R.I.P. Tom. Thanks for the great work.”

Noonan famously played “The Tooth Fairy” serial killer Francis Dollarhyde in Michael Mann’s 1986 film “Manhunter.” It was the first movie adaptation of Thomas Harris’ Hannibal Lecter novels that also inspired 1991’s “The Silence of the Lambs” and 2002’s “Red Dragon.”

Other memorable roles include the villain Cain in “RoboCop 2,” Frankenstein’s monster in “The Monster Squad,” and playing himself as “The Ripper” actor Tom Noonan in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Last Action Hero.” Additional credits include “The Man with One Red Shoe,” “Heaven’s Gate,” “The Equalizer,” “The X Files,” “The Astronaut’s Wife, ”CSI,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “Heat,” “Mystery Train,” TV’s “12 Monkeys” and “Synecdoche, New York.”

Noonan also worked as a writer and director, winning the Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize in 1994 for “What Happened Was…” based on his play of the same name. Noonan also starred opposite Sillas.

Details about survivors and services were not immediately available. He was previously married to Karen Young, an actress known for roles in “9 1/2 Weeks,” “Heat” and “Jaws: The Revenge.”