James Noble

Acting

James Noble

Born 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).

Acting credits

Airplane II: The Sequel poster
6.1

A faulty computer causes a passenger space shuttle to head straight for the sun, and man-with-a-past Ted Striker must save the day and get the shuttle back on track – again – all the while trying to patch up his relationship with Elaine.

Airplane II: The Sequel

1982

Chances Are poster
6.6

Louie Jeffries is happily married to Corinne. On their first anniversary, Louie is killed crossing the road. Louie is reincarnated as Alex Finch, and twenty years later, fate brings Alex and Louie's daughter, Miranda, together. It's not until Alex is invited to Louie's home that he begins to remember his former life, wife and best friend. Of course, there's also the problem that he's attracted to Louie's/his own daughter.

Chances Are

1989

10 poster
5.8

A Hollywood songwriter goes through a mid-life crisis and becomes infatuated with a sexy blonde newlywed.

10

1979

Being There poster
7.6

A simple-minded gardener named Chance has spent all his life in the Washington D.C. house of an old man. When the man dies, Chance is put out on the street with no knowledge of the world except what he has learned from television.

Being There

1979

Night of 100 Stars II poster
6.8

This special is the second "Night of 100 Stars" to benefit The Actors Fund of America. Edited from a seven-hour live entertainment marathon that was taped February 17, 1985, at New York's Radio City Music Hall, this sequel to the 1982 "Night of 100 Stars" special features 288 celebrities.

Night of 100 Stars II

1985

What's So Bad About Feeling Good? poster
6.7

A new infection that simply makes people feel happy is treated as a threat by the authorities while its "victims" work to spread it to others.

What's So Bad About Feeling Good?

1968

1776 poster
6.9

Colonial representatives gather in Philadelphia with the aim of establishing a set of governmental rules for the burgeoning United States. Benjamin Franklin and John Adams charge Thomas Jefferson with the task of writing a statement announcing the new country's emancipation from British rule.

1776

1972

Cinderella poster
6.7

An oppressed young woman finds happiness when she secretly attends the royal ball.

Cinderella

1985

Dempsey poster
6.3

Nominated for two primetime Emmy Awards in 1984, this made-for-TV movie follows the true story of American boxer Jack Dempsey, who became a media sensation in the 1920s as the world heavyweight champion. Based upon the book by Jack Dempsey and Barbara Piatelli Dempsey.

Dempsey

1983

Fake poster
5.8

Daniel Jakor is one of the most prolific and successful artists of which the world has never heard. Struggling to sell his art, he discovers that his true genius lies not in the creation of his own work but in forgery of the Great Masters.

Fake

2011

Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam poster
6.8

Perry investigates the murder of a former madam and uncovers a multimillion dollar banking fraud in the process.

Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam

1987

You Talkin' to Me? poster
3.8

A young actor's fascination with Rober De Niro's TAXI DRIVER persona leads him into a morass of strange and obsessional behaviors.

You Talkin' to Me?

1987

Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again poster
7.3

The classic comic characters return, partaking in their Riverdale High 15th anniversary reunion! But when Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe is under the danger of being closed down for good, Archie, along with his pals n' gals, find a way to help out their friend and keep the youth of Riverdale intact with a good burger and milkshake!

Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again

1990

Summer of My German Soldier poster
5.5

Patty Bergen is a teenager in a Jewish family living in the American South during World War II. Patty feels like an outcast even in her own family and is unable to understand why her father can't seem to love her. Her town eventually becomes host to a prisoner of war camp. A young German soldier escapes from this camp, and Patty finds him hiding in her secret place in the woods outside of town. After getting to know him, she ends up harboring him from his captors and, in the way of many adolescents, falls in love with him. Patty knows what she is risking by helping him, but in his company, she feels important, special, and respected as she has never been. In the end, his regard lifts her self-esteem and helps her to face the heartbreaking events to come.

Summer of My German Soldier

1978

Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me poster
3.5

Free-thinking student tries to put up with life at a straight-laced college in 1958.

Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me

1971

Hart to Hart poster
7.5

In this pilot film, a friend of Jonathan Hart's is killed in a motor accident just after he has left a health farm, apparently committing suicide. There was no warning of him being troubled so the Harts go undercover to find out what happened at the farm.

Hart to Hart

1979

The Sporting Club poster
4.2

The wealthy members of an exclusive backwoods retreat face an existential threat from both a disgruntled former manager as well as a subversive, anarchistic current member.

The Sporting Club

1971

A Tiger's Tale poster
4.5

A young man falls for his girlfriend's mother.

A Tiger's Tale

1988

Paramedics poster
3.1

Two paramedics are transferred to the nasty part of the city where a gang is killing people to sell their organs.

Paramedics

1988

No artwork available
7.0

Low-budget mystery centers on a murder committed during the premier of a Broadway show.

Death Play

1976

The Woman Who Willed a Miracle poster
9.0

Based on the true story of May Lemke. Her adopted son Leslie was born with cerebral palsy. May teaches him basic survival skills through the years. In his teens, he suddenly manifests an ability to play classical music on the piano.

The Woman Who Willed a Miracle

1983

When the Bough Breaks poster
6.4

A Los Angeles psychiatrist testifies for the prosecution in the trial of an accused child molester. Later the defendant, who is out on bail, is found dead in the psychiatrist's office, in what appears to be a suicide. Shaken, the psychiatrist moves to the mountains outside of L.A. Not long afterwards a detective he knows comes to him for help. A seven-year-old girl saw someone kill both of her parents, but is so traumatized by the event that she can't remember anything, and the detective wants the doctor to help jar her memory. Soon, however, the doctor and the detective discover that the parents' murder and the pedophiles "suicide" may be linked to a shadowy group of wealthy and influential pedophiles, and that the child isn't the only one whose life is in danger.

When the Bough Breaks

1986

Promises in the Dark poster
5.9

A young doctor, Alexandra Kendall, seeking change while recovering from a recent heartbreak, moves from Chicago, Illinois to Hartford, Connecticut. She joins the West Hartford medical practice of Dr. Walter McInterny, a doctor approaching retirement age. 17-year-old Elizabeth "Buffy" Koenig is a precocious student at West Hartford's William Hall High School. Her boyfriend Gerry is a football player at Hall High. While Dr. McInterny is away on vacation, longtime patient Buffy hurts her leg while harmlessly kicking a soccer ball during Gerry's nearby football practice. At the hospital, Dr. Kendall finds that not only is the leg broken, but the bone was also weakened by cancer. Dr. Kendall treats Buffy and the two develop a bond that extends beyond the doctor-patient relationship; Dr. Kendall is drawn to Buffy's humor and raw honesty.

Promises in the Dark

1979

Who? poster
5.0

After an American scientist is severely injured and scarred in a car crash along the border with East Germany, he is captured by East German military. The scientists use metal implants to save him. Once he's back in the States, no one can tell if it's really him, so an intelligence specialist must determine who is under the "mask".

Who?

1974