American actor with a long muggish-looking face, thinning hair, and a seeming hunched back, in films as early as 1925. Often a bit player, he also served as a stand-in for Walter Connolly and Charles Laughton. His nickname has also been rendered as "Skeet" (singular), but the majority of sources that I've found, including Noyes' own Standard Casting Directory ads, say "Skeets" (plural).
He later consistently gave his date of birth as 08 July, but his birth record confirms it to actually be a day later. During World War I, he served as Hospital Apprentice 2nd Class in the U.S. Naval Reserve Force; he was discharged on 15 March 1918. Noyes also owned and trained racehorses, including one named "Royalty Check," in addition to his motion picture work. He posed (alternating with a dummy) for a chilling portrait of the titular character, painted by artist Ivan Albright, for MGM's 1945 film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray."
During the last five years of his life, Noyes suffered from multiple sclerosis. By April 1950 (Census), he was residing at the Motion Picture Country Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, where he passed away two years later. He is buried at Valhalla Memorial Park in North Hollywood, California.
|
