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 selfdoubt 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 Dereks father in 10 1979 In 1979 Noble was cast as the genially absentminded 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 Nebraskabased recording engineer on the very shortlived sitcom First Impressions 1988
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