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 ...
Airplane II: The Sequel
1982
10
1979
Being There
1979
Chances Are
1989
Night of 100 Stars II
1985
Cinderella
1985
Fake
2011
Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again
1990
A Tiger's Tale
1988
Dempsey
1983
1776
1972
The Sporting Club
1971
Deadly Deception
1987
When the Bough Breaks
1986
Who?
1974
What's So Bad About Feeling Good?
1968
Paramedics
1988
Summer of My German Soldier
1978
Baby Comes Home
1980
You Talkin' to Me?
1987
Lovey: A Circle of Children, Part II
1978
Hart to Hart
1979
Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam
1987
Dragonfly
1976
Bang
1995
Faerie Tale Theatre: Cinderella
1985
The Woman Who Willed a Miracle
1983
Breaking Up
1978
The Day My Kid Went Punk
1987
This Is Kate Bennett...
1982
Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me
1971
Promises in the Dark
1979
Born Kicking
1992
The Absent-Minded Professor: Trading Places
1989
They Bite
1996