James Noble
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).
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Movies (36)
Fake
2011 · Mr. Rousseau
Glacier Bay
2006 · Artie, Producer
They Bite
1996 · Scientist #1
Bang
1995 · Rooftop Dealer
Born Kicking
1992 · Hudson
Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again
1990 · Mr. Hyrum Lodge
Chances Are
1989 · Dr. Bailey
The Absent-Minded Professor: Trading Places
1989 · Dr. Gilmore Blount
Paramedics
1988 · Chief Wilkins
A Tiger's Tale
1988 · Sinclair
The Day My Kid Went Punk
1987 · Max Smiley
Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam
1987 · Leonard Weeks
You Talkin' to Me?
1987 · Peter Archer
Deadly Deception
1987 · Ed Shoat
When the Bough Breaks
1986 · Dr. Warren Towle
Cinderella
1985 · King Rupert III
Night of 100 Stars II
1985 · Self
Dempsey
1983 · Gavin McNab
The Woman Who Willed a Miracle
1983 · Dr. Edwards
Airplane II: The Sequel
1982 · Father O'Flanagan
This Is Kate Bennett...
1982 · Tom Fairmont
Baby Comes Home
1980 · Dr. Elliott Olsen
Being There
1979 · Kaufman
Promises in the Dark
1979 · Dr. Blankenship
10
1979 · Dr. Miles
Hart to Hart
1979 · Dr. Metz
Lovey: A Circle of Children, Part II
1978 · Ed
Summer of My German Soldier
1978 · Pierce
Breaking Up
1978 · Haberle
Death Play
1976 · Norman
Dragonfly
1976 · Dr. Lee
Who?
1974 · General Deptford
1776
1972 · Rev. John Witherspoon (NJ)
Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me
1971 · Father Pettis
The Sporting Club
1971 · Canon Pritchard
What's So Bad About Feeling Good?
1968 · Board Member
TV shows (20)
Beech is Back
2001
Peak Practice
1993 · Mr. Naughton
Law & Order
1990 · Judge Nelson Kurland
Father Dowling Mysteries
1989 · Judge Karnes
First Impressions
1988 · Raymond Voss
Perfect Strangers
1986
The Bill
1984
Murder, She Wrote
1984 · Paul Carlisle
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
1983
Faerie Tale Theatre
1982 · King Rupert III
Benson
1979 · Eugene Gatling
The Love Boat
1977 · Dr. Elliot Norton, Martin Corell
The Andros Targets
1977 · Tierney
The Adams Chronicles
1976 · Jonathan Sewall
Starsky & Hutch
1975 · Treasury Agent Kendall
ABC Afterschool Special
1972 · Max Smiley
A World Apart
1970
McCloud
1970
The Doctors
1963 · Dr. Bill Winters
The Defenders
1961 · Ron Mayberry