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

• 2011Fake — Mr. Rousseau
• 2006Glacier Bay — Artie, Producer
• Beech is Back
• 1996They Bite — Scientist #1
• 1995Bang — Rooftop Dealer
• Peak Practice — Mr. Naughton
• 1992Born Kicking — Hudson
• 1990Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again — Mr. Hyrum Lodge
• Law & Order — Judge Nelson Kurland
• 1989Chances Are — Dr. Bailey
• Father Dowling Mysteries — Judge Karnes
• 1989The Absent-Minded Professor: Trading Places — Dr. Gilmore Blount
• 1988A Tiger's Tale — Sinclair
• First Impressions — Raymond Voss
• 1988Paramedics — Chief Wilkins
• 1987Deadly Deception — Ed Shoat
• 1987Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam — Leonard Weeks
• 1987The Day My Kid Went Punk — Max Smiley
• 1987You Talkin' to Me? — Peter Archer
• Perfect Strangers
• 1986When the Bough Breaks — Dr. Warren Towle
• 1985Cinderella — King Rupert III
• Murder, She Wrote — Paul Carlisle
• The Bill
• 1983Dempsey — Gavin McNab
• Scarecrow and Mrs. King
• 1983The Woman Who Willed a Miracle — Dr. Edwards
• 1982Airplane II: The Sequel — Father O'Flanagan
• Faerie Tale Theatre — King Rupert III
• 1982This Is Kate Bennett... — Tom Fairmont
• 1980Baby Comes Home — Dr. Elliott Olsen
• 197910 — Dr. Miles
• 1979Being There — Kaufman
• Benson — Eugene Gatling
• 1979Hart to Hart — Dr. Metz
• 1979Promises in the Dark — Dr. Blankenship
• 1978Breaking Up — Haberle
• 1978Lovey: A Circle of Children, Part II — Ed
• 1978Summer of My German Soldier — Pierce
• The Andros Targets — Tierney
• The Love Boat — Dr. Elliot Norton, Martin Corell
• 1976Death Play — Norman
• 1976Dragonfly — Dr. Lee
• The Adams Chronicles — Jonathan Sewall
• Starsky & Hutch — Treasury Agent Kendall
• 1974Who? — General Deptford
• 19721776 — Rev. John Witherspoon (NJ)
• ABC Afterschool Special — Max Smiley
• 1971Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me — Father Pettis
• 1971The Sporting Club — Canon Pritchard
• A World Apart
• McCloud
• 1968What's So Bad About Feeling Good? — Board Member
• The Doctors — Dr. Bill Winters
• The Defenders — Ron Mayberry

Appearances as themselves (1)

• 1985Night of 100 Stars II — Self