Governor Eugene Xavier Gatling
Happy 89th Birthday (5th March) to the actor James Noble who is best known for his portrayal of the slightly daffy Governor Eugene Gatling on the 1980s sitcom Benson. 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" (1969) 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. He is the father of a good buddy who is a remarkable person in her own right. However Jim is in a class of his own and as the video shows even at his advanced years is not craving respectability nor has he lost his subversive sense of humour.
SUBURBAN LEGENDS Ep 15 - "DEAR OLD DAD"
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