John Noble — Movies, TV Shows & Roles

Actor

1948-08-20 · Port Pirie, South Australia, Australia · Male

24 series in the catalog

John Noble (born 20 August 1948) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Denethor in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003), and Dr. Walter Bishop in the Fox science fiction series Fringe (2008–2013). His other television credits include the supernatural drama Sleepy Hollow (2013–2017) and the police procedural Elementary (2015–2019). Noble has also lent his distinctively deep voice to animated and video game projects, most notably as Leland Monroe in Rockstar Games' L.A. Noire (2011), Unicron in the animated series Transformers: Prime (2010–2013), and Scarecrow in the DC Comics game Batman: Arkham Knight (2015).
Career
Noble's early acting career started in theater throughout the 1970s and 1980s. For 10 years, he was an artistic director for the Stage Company of South Australia. Noble was a Trustee of the Adelaide Festival Centre and chairman of the Adelaide Festival of the Arts. In 1979, he starred in Errol Flynn's Great Big Adventure Book for Boys at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland. In 1984, Noble received a nomination by South Australian Premier John Bannon, for the Young Australian of the Year award.
Noble at age 40 made his film debut in the 1988 horror film The Dreaming.
Noble made occasional appearances on the television series All Saints. His performance as Denethor, son of Ecthelion, in The Lord of the Rings trilogy resulted in his becoming better known to international audiences. He played Russian Consul Anatoly Markov in the sixth season of the US television series 24.
Noble won awards when starring as eccentric scientist Walter Bishop in the television series Fringe for 5 seasons (2008–2013).
Noble played Morland Holmes, father of Sherlock Holmes, in Elementary. He was a series regular for season 4 with guest appearances in seasons 6 and 7.
Noble has also done voice acting, usually portraying villains. He voiced the Dragon Spirit in M. Night Shyamalan's film The Last Airbender (2010), appeared as Real Estate tycoon Leland Monroe in Rockstar Games' L.A. Noire (2011), and provided the voice for Unicron in the animated series Transformers: Prime and its conclusion film Transformers Prime Beast Hunters: Predacons Rising. Noble also voiced the Diviner in the 2021 animated series Star Trek: Prodigy. In 2024, he played an alternate version of the Diviner called Ilthuran.
Noble has done voice-over work for numerous DC Comics projects, including the animated film Superman: Unbound (2013) as the supervillain Brainiac, the video game Batman: Arkham Knight (2015) as the primary antagonist Scarecrow, and the television series Legends of Tomorrow as the demon Mallus. Additionally, Noble appeared as himself in the Legends of Tomorrow episode "Guest Starring John Noble".
On 21 February 2025 Noble made his debut on season two of the Apple TV+ show Severance in the sixth episode, titled "Attila", playing the role of a character named Cecil Fields. Fields is a homosexual man who is married to Christopher Walken's character, Burt Goodman, who is often identified as "Burt G."
Personal life
Noble divides his time between residences in New York City and Sydney, Australia, with wife Penny Noble. They have three children, including actress Samantha Noble. In 2011, Noble's hobbies were reported to be "music, painting, and narration". He studies theoretical physics and requested that the writers of Fringe always keep things grounded in what could be scientifically feasible.
In 2012, Noble was diagnosed with osteoporosis. His charity, Noble Bones, helps to raise awareness of the disease.
Other work
Artistic Director of Stage Company of South Australia 1977–1987
Head of Drama, Brent St. School of Arts (Sydney) 1997–2000