James Noble

James Noble was an actor best known for his co-starring role on the ABC sitcom Benson. He played the scatterbrained Governor Eugene Xavier Gatling on more than 150 episodes of the series, which followed the rise of the title character, played by Robert Guillaume, from butler to Lieutenant Governor. The series was nominated for four Golden Globes and 17 Emmy Awards, winning two in 1985 for lead actor and technical direction.

Noble also appeared on the television series As the World Turns, East Side/West Side, The Defenders, Another World, Directions, The Doctors, One Life to Live, A World Apart, McCloud, Starsky and Hutch, Hart to Hart, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, First Impressions, Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, Perfect Strangers and Law & Order.

Additionally, Noble appeared in the films What’s So Bad About Feeling Good?, with George Peppard and Mary Tyler Moore; Who?, starring Elliott Gould; Dragonfly, with Beau Bridges and Susan Sarandon; 10, starring Dudley Moore, Bo Derek and Julie Andrews; Being There, with Peter Sellers and Shirley MacLaine; and Chances Are, with Cybill Shepherd, Robert Downey Jr. and Ryan O'Neal.

After attending Southern Methodist University in his hometown of Dallas, Noble served as an engineering officer in the Navy during World War II, then moved to New York and studied under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio.

He got his start on Broadway, working as an assistant stage manager in the 1949 production of The Big Knife, directed by Strasberg, then acted that year in The Velvet Glove. Starting in 1969, he played John Hancock in the musical 1776 before appearing in the 1972 film adaptation, in which he played Rev. John Witherspoon.

Noble died March 28, 2016, in Connecticut. He was 94.