Tommy Noonan

Acting

Tommy Noonan

Born 1922-04-29 · Bellingham, Washington, USA

Tommy Noonan (born Thomas Noone ( April 29, 1921 – April 24, 1968) was a comedy genre film performer, screenwriter and producer. He acted in a 65 projects including high-profile films as well as B movies from the 1940s through the 1960s and he made several tv appearances also; he is best known for his supporting performances as Gus Esmond, wealthy fiancé of Lorelei Lee (Marilyn Monroe), in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), and as musician Danny McGuire in A Star Is Born (1954). In addition to starring alongside Marilyn Monroe, Noonan is also noted for having played love interests to Jayne Mansfield in Promises..... Promises! (1963) and Mamie Van Doren in 3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt (Which he also directed) (1964), making him the only actor to play love interests to the 3 former who were dubbed the 3 Ms of Golden Age Hollywood.

Acting credits

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes poster
7.3

Lorelei Lee is a beautiful showgirl engaged to be married to the wealthy Gus Esmond, much to the disapproval of Gus' rich father, Esmond Sr., who thinks that Lorelei is just after his money. When Lorelei goes on a cruise accompanied only by her best friend, Dorothy Shaw, Esmond Sr. hires Ernie Malone, a private detective, to follow her and report any questionable behavior that would disqualify her from the marriage.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

1953

A Star Is Born poster
7.1

A movie star helps a young singer-actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.

A Star Is Born

1954

Violent Saturday poster
6.7

Three men case a small town very carefully, with plans to rob the bank on the upcoming Saturday, which turns violent and deadly.

Violent Saturday

1955

Adam's Rib poster
7.1

A woman's attempted murder of her uncaring husband results in everyday quarrels in the lives of Adam and Amanda, a pair of happily married lawyers who end up on opposite sides of the case in court.

Adam's Rib

1949

Born to Kill poster
6.7

A calculating divorcée risks her chances at wealth and security with a man she doesn't love by getting involved with a hotheaded murderer.

Born to Kill

1947

The Set-Up poster
7.4

Expecting the usual loss, a boxing manager takes bribes from a betting gangster without telling his fighter.

The Set-Up

1949

I Cheated the Law poster
7.0

An attorney (Tom Conway) learns he was duped into being his gangster murder client's (Steve Brodie) alibi.

I Cheated the Law

1949

Riff-Raff poster
6.2

A private detective foils the plans of villains attempting to take over Panamanian oil fields while he searches for a valuable map hidden in plain sight.

Riff-Raff

1947

Bedlam poster
6.7

London, 1761. St. Mary's of Bethlehem, a sinister madhouse, is visited by wealthy people who enjoy watching the patients confined there as if they were caged animals. Nell Bowen, one of the visitors, is horrified by the deplorable living conditions of the unfortunate inhabitants of this godforsaken place, better known as Bedlam.

Bedlam

1946

Dick Tracy poster
5.3

Dick is faced with a series of brutal murders in which the victims, all from different social and economic backgrounds, are viciously slashed to pieces. Suspects abound but Tracy, getting a clue that there will be 15 murders in all, must find the common thread among the victims before more are killed.

Dick Tracy

1945

Criminal Court poster
5.4

A lawyer who is planning to run for District Attorney accidentally kills a gangster who owns the nightclub where the attorney's girlfriend is a singer. Although he manages to cover up his involvement in the crime, his girlfriend discovers the body and is subsequently charged with the murder.

Criminal Court

1946

I Shot Jesse James poster
6.2

Bob Ford murders his best friend Jesse James in order to obtain a pardon that will free him to marry his girlfriend Cynthy. The guilt-stricken Ford soon finds himself greeted with derision and open mockery throughout town. He travels to Colorado to try his hand at prospecting in hopes that marriage with Cynthy is still in the cards.

I Shot Jesse James

1949

The Fabulous Joe poster
5.5

Milo Terkel's life is never the same after he is willed a dog named Joe. Milo buys his wife a diamond necklace for their anniversary, but when he returns home he finds a note saying she is attending a charity affair. He decides to celebrate alone, taking Joe along for company. After two "mystery gardenias" at the Florida Club, he meets gorgeous Miss Gilmore who spots the necklace and asks to try it on. Milo is punched in the nose by Miss Gilmore's boyfriend, Louie. But Milo's troubles really begin when his dog starts to talk to him, and ONLY to him! He tells Milo to act tough, like Humphrey Bogart. It's a laugh-a-minute as Milo changes from lamb to lion and is innocently caught by his wife with the shapely Miss Gilmore. When his wife sues for divorce he tells the judge about Joe being his advisor. The judge can only suggest that Milo and his wife take a long vacation to work out their problems. Everyone knows a dog simply can't talk!

The Fabulous Joe

1947

From This Day Forward poster
5.4

A young American soldier, with an honorable discharge, returns home from World War II to his bride, whom he married after a short courtship and has not seen for several years. The two come together with many trials and tribulations in trying to preserve their marriage in the post-war years.

From This Day Forward

1946

Promises! Promises! poster
4.8

After a drunken spree on a cruise ship, two women discover that they're pregnant, and set out to find who the fathers are.

Promises! Promises!

1963

The Truth About Murder poster
4.8

A young attorney (Bonita Granville) is convinced a murder suspect is innocent in the killing of his wife.

The Truth About Murder

1946

Bundle of Joy poster
6.4

Kitschy musical remake of "Bachelor Mother". Debbie Reynolds plays an over-eager clerk in a large department store and Eddie Fisher plays the boss' son. After getting fired from her job, she finds an adorable baby on the steps of the foundling home and the folks inside mistake her for the mother. Fisher, well-meaning, but obtuse, tries to help her out with the baby, and the buds of romance begin to appear. Meanwhile old Merlin, the owner of the store, thinks he just might be a grandfather...

Bundle of Joy

1956

How to Be Very, Very Popular poster
4.6

Two strippers on the run hide out in a college fraternity. Director Nunnally Johnson's 1955 musical comedy stars Betty Grable, Sheree North, Robert Cummings, Charles Coburn, Tommy Noonan, Orson Bean, Fred Clark, Alice Pearce, Rhys Williams, Willard Waterman, Leslie Parrish and Jesslyn Fax.

How to Be Very, Very Popular

1955

Step by Step poster
6.2

Marine veteran Johnny Christopher meets and is immediately drawn to beautiful Evelyn Smith one day on the beach. Evelyn's new job as secretary to a U.S. senator in California soon brings unexpected intrigue and trouble for her and Johnny. The machinations of a sinister group of Nazi spies lead to mysteries and mistaken identities, and the two soon find themselves framed for murder!

Step by Step

1946

Crack-Up poster
5.8

Art curator George Steele experiences a train wreck...which never happened. Is he cracking up, or the victim of a plot?

Crack-Up

1946

The Ambassador's Daughter poster
4.9

While on leave in Paris, a G.I. pursues an ambassador's daughter. Meanwhile she's out to prove to her father that soldiers can be gentlemen, too.

The Ambassador's Daughter

1956

The Bamboo Blonde poster
5.6

A pilot of a B 29 meets Louise Anderson, a singer in a New York nightclub. He falls in love with her, but he had to leave next day for action in the Pacific. He lets paint her picture on his bomber, the "Bamboo Blonde" and becomes a hero with his crew sinking a Japanese battleship and shooting down a Japanese fighter wing. Back in New York, he leaves his fiancée and engages him to Louise.

The Bamboo Blonde

1946

Ding Dong Williams poster
7.5

Ding Dong Williams, a clarinet player who can neither read nor write music is employed at a motion picture studio. The studio plans to use him and his six-piece band but his musical deficiencies are discovered and the plan scrapped. But the secretary of the head of the music department intercedes on his behalf and he is given a chance in the film.

Ding Dong Williams

1946

The Return of Jesse James poster
6.0

Frank James resents and tries to stop a ruthless drifter who has adopted the name of his dead brother in order to duplicate his crimes.

The Return of Jesse James

1950

Behind the camera

Promises! Promises! poster
4.8

After a drunken spree on a cruise ship, two women discover that they're pregnant, and set out to find who the fathers are.

Promises! Promises!

1963

Promises! Promises! poster
4.8

After a drunken spree on a cruise ship, two women discover that they're pregnant, and set out to find who the fathers are.

Promises! Promises!

1963

The Rookie poster
10.0

A manic young radio network employee enlists in the army at the end of WWII and finds himself the only new recruit at basic training camp. Military comedy.

The Rookie

1959

3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt poster
3.5

An out-of-work method actor is hired by a male model, an ecdysiast, and a car salesman who live together to save money. They want the actor to listen to their problems and go see a psychiatrist, so they can get counseling for cheap. The psychiatrist is intrigued by the split personalities indicated by the three separate sets of problems presented by the actor, and soon producers are climbing out of the woodwork trying to buy the rights to the film, while the actor is having trouble keeping his act together.

3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt

1964

3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt poster
3.5

An out-of-work method actor is hired by a male model, an ecdysiast, and a car salesman who live together to save money. They want the actor to listen to their problems and go see a psychiatrist, so they can get counseling for cheap. The psychiatrist is intrigued by the split personalities indicated by the three separate sets of problems presented by the actor, and soon producers are climbing out of the woodwork trying to buy the rights to the film, while the actor is having trouble keeping his act together.

3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt

1964

3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt poster
3.5

An out-of-work method actor is hired by a male model, an ecdysiast, and a car salesman who live together to save money. They want the actor to listen to their problems and go see a psychiatrist, so they can get counseling for cheap. The psychiatrist is intrigued by the split personalities indicated by the three separate sets of problems presented by the actor, and soon producers are climbing out of the woodwork trying to buy the rights to the film, while the actor is having trouble keeping his act together.

3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt

1964