'Benson' star James Noble dies at 94
James Noble, an actor best known to TV viewers of the '80s -- and those who caught the reruns on Nick at Nite and TV Land -- as bumbling governor Eugene X. Gatling, died Monday in Connecticut, according to the New York Times. Noble was 94.
He starred opposite Robert Guillaume in Benson, a sitcom named after Guillaume's character that ran on ABC from 1979 to 1986.
The show followed Benson DuBois -- a character that originated on ABC's Soap -- as he left the wacky Tate family to work as the "head of household affairs" for Noble's Gatling, the governor of an unnamed state.
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(A sign of the times: Though Benson began the series as a glorified domestic, he ended it by running against Gatling in a gubernatorial election. Benson was canceled before it could reveal which man would emerge victorious.)
Noble, a Texas native, was born in 1922. He turned to acting after serving in the Navy during World War II, beginning his television career by appearing on the sort of programs Soap parodied -- The Edge of Night, The Brighter Day, As the World Turns.
A student of famed acting teacher Lee Strasberg, Noble had a prolific stage career as well, appearing in four Broadway shows, including 1776.
Noble's wife, actress Carolyn Coates, died in 2005. They are survived by their daughter, Jessica Katherine Noble Cowan.
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Hillary Busis was Mashable's Deputy Entertainment Editor. Her coverage focused on the film and television industry. A graduate of Columbia, Hillary previously worked as a digital news editor at Entertainment Weekly, where she also cohosted a weekly show on EW's Sirius XM Radio channel. Her work has been featured in Vulture, Slate and the Wall Street Journal, among other publications, and she's also appeared as a guest on the 'Today' show and HuffPost Live.
