James Noble
Acting
1922-03-05 · Dallas, Texas, USA
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
Fake
2011 · Movie
Beech is Back
2001 · Series
They Bite
1996 · Movie
Bang
1995 · Movie
Peak Practice
1993 · Series
Born Kicking
1992 · Movie
Law & Order
1990 · Series
Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again
1990 · Movie
Chances Are
1989 · Movie
The Absent-Minded Professor: Trading Places
1989 · Movie
Father Dowling Mysteries
1989 · Series
First Impressions
1988 · Series
Paramedics
1988 · Movie
A Tiger's Tale
1988 · Movie
The Day My Kid Went Punk
1987 · Movie
Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam
1987 · Movie
You Talkin' to Me?
1987 · Movie
Deadly Deception
1987 · Movie
When the Bough Breaks
1986 · Movie
Perfect Strangers
1986 · Series
Cinderella
1985 · Movie
Night of 100 Stars II
1985 · Movie
The Bill
1984 · Series
Murder, She Wrote
1984 · Series
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
1983 · Series
Dempsey
1983 · Movie
The Woman Who Willed a Miracle
1983 · Movie
Airplane II: The Sequel
1982 · Movie
Faerie Tale Theatre
1982 · Series
This Is Kate Bennett...
1982 · Movie
Baby Comes Home
1980 · Movie
Being There
1979 · Movie
Promises in the Dark
1979 · Movie
10
1979 · Movie
Benson
1979 · Series
Hart to Hart
1979 · Movie
Lovey: A Circle of Children, Part II
1978 · Movie
Summer of My German Soldier
1978 · Movie
Breaking Up
1978 · Movie
The Love Boat
1977 · Series
The Andros Targets
1977 · Series
Death Play
1976 · Movie
Dragonfly
1976 · Movie
The Adams Chronicles
1976 · Series
Starsky & Hutch
1975 · Series
Who?
1974 · Movie
1776
1972 · Movie
ABC Afterschool Special
1972 · Series
Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me
1971 · Movie
The Sporting Club
1971 · Movie
A World Apart
1970 · Series
McCloud
1970 · Series
What's So Bad About Feeling Good?
1968 · Movie
The Doctors
1963 · Series
The Defenders
1961 · Series