Tom Noonan, the actor and director best known for playing some of cinema’s most unsettling villains, has died aged 74.

The death of Tom Noonan was confirmed on social media by longtime friend and collaborator Karen Sillas, as well as filmmaker Fred Dekker, who directed him in The Monster Squad. 

No cause of death has been announced. Noonan died on February 14.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Noonan built a distinctive career defined by his towering presence and ability to bring depth to outsiders and antagonists. 

After early theatre work off Broadway, including appearing in the original production of Sam Shepard’s Buried Child, he began landing film roles in the late 1970s and early 1980s. 

One of his earliest screen appearances was in Heaven’s Gate.

His breakout role came in Manhunter, directed by Michael Mann, where he portrayed serial killer Francis Dollarhyde in the first screen adaptation of Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon. 

The performance earned him lasting recognition and established him as a go-to character actor for complex and disturbing roles.

Noonan went on to embrace cult status with memorable turns as Frankenstein’s Monster in The Monster Squad and as Cain, the drug-fuelled cult leader who becomes the mechanised villain RoboCain in RoboCop 2. 

He also made a strong impression on younger audiences as The Ripper in Last Action Hero.

His long list of film credits included Heat, 12 Monkeys, The House of the Devil, The Pledge and Eight Legged Freaks. 

He later reunited with Mann for Heat and described the director’s work as deeply influential. 

“Terribly sad about Tom Noonan passing,” Mann wrote in a tribute following the news.

Beyond acting, Noonan was a respected playwright and filmmaker. He wrote, directed and starred in What Happened Was…, adapted from his off-Broadway play. 

The film won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 1994 and starred Karen Sillas, who called working with Noonan “a turning point in my life as an actor,” adding, “What a privilege, and crazy fun, it was to call him my friend to the end.”

On television, Noonan appeared in series including The X-Files, The Leftovers, Damages and The Blacklist. 

He also collaborated twice with Charlie Kaufman, appearing in Synecdoche, New York and voicing multiple characters in Anomalisa. 

His final big-screen role was in Wonderstruck.

Reflecting on his career, Noonan once said, “I’ve always been a very quiet person, and ironic, and subtle, and a lot of the parts that I get to play are these loudmouth maniacs who have something really wrong with them.”

Fred Dekker remembered him as “the proverbial gentleman and scholar,” adding that his performance in The Monster Squad remained one of the highlights of his career.

Noonan leaves behind a legacy as a singular screen presence, an actor who made villains human, frightening and unforgettable.

The final on-screen role of James Van Der Beek has been revealed, with the late actor set to make his last film appearance in the upcoming thriller The Gates, due in cinemas on March 13.

A newly released trailer confirms Van Der Beek stars as a chilling and corrupt pastor named Jacob, marking a dark and striking farewell performance. 

The film centres on three friends who accidentally witness a murder while driving through a gated community. 

What begins as a chance encounter quickly turns into a fight for survival, as the trio become targets of Jacob and the neighbourhood’s unsettling residents.

In the trailer, Van Der Beek’s character delivers a haunting warning to the community. 

“I have been called upon to lead this community, and those boys seek to destroy us. Find them, and let God’s will be done.” 

Later, as he holds the young men at gunpoint, he adds, “You’ve seen what happens when people get in my way.”

The film is directed by John Burr, who also developed the story from his own script. The cast includes Mason Gooding, Algee Smith, Keith Powers and Brad Leland.

Van Der Beek was widely known for playing Dawson Leery in Dawson’s Creek, a role that made him a household name. 

Before his death on February 11, Van Der Beek had also completed work on a recurring role in Elle, an upcoming Legally Blonde prequel series for Amazon Prime Video.

Produced by Gary Glushon, Ross Kohn and Nancy Leopardi, The Gates now stands as Van Der Beek’s final cinematic chapter, offering audiences one last look at an actor unafraid to take on bold and unexpected roles right to the end.

Watch The Gates starring James Van Der Beek below:

Academy Award-winning actor Robert Duvall died on Feb. 15, 2026 at the age of 95. In this June 25, 2006 “Sunday Morning” profile, the star of such classics as “The Godfather,” “Apocalypse Now,” and the TV miniseries “Lonesome Dove” talked with Rita Braver about his career, including the early days hanging out with Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman; his Oscar-winning performance as a country singer in “Tender Mercies”; and his love of westerns. He even gave a visiting reporter an impromptu tango lesson.