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Noah Strausser Speer Wyle (Template:IPAc-en; born June 4, 1971) is an American actor, writer, producer and director. He rose to fame as John Carter in the NBC medical drama ER (1994–2009), receiving five Emmy Award nominations, three Golden Globe Award nominations, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. Since 2025, he has starred as Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch in the HBO Max medical drama The Pitt.
Wyle is also known for his roles as Flynn Carsen in The Librarian franchise and Tom Mason in the sci-fi series Falling Skies (2011–2015). He was nominated for a Critics' Choice Television Award for his performance in the television miniseries The Red Line (2019). He had supporting roles in films such as A Few Good Men (1992), Donnie Darko (2001), and Enough (2002) and leading roles in The Myth of Fingerprints (1997), Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999), Queen of the Lot (2010), The World Made Straight (2015) and Shot (2017). Wyle served as artistic producer of the Blank Theatre Company in Los Angeles for over 20 years.
Early lifeEdit
Wyle was born in Hollywood, Los Angeles on June 4, 1971.<ref name=whodoyouthink>Template:Cite news</ref> His mother, Marjorie "Marty" Speer, worked as a nurse at Hollywood's Kaiser Hospital.<ref name=latimespatients>Template:Cite news</ref> His father, Stephen Wyle, was an electrical engineer and entrepreneur.<ref name=peopleer>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Wyle's paternal grandparents were prominent figures in Los Angeles; his grandfather, Frank Wyle, was a mechanical engineer who founded the aerospace company Wyle Laboratories<ref name=frankwyle>Template:Cite news</ref> and his grandmother, Edith R. Wyle, was a painter who established the Los Angeles Craft and Folk Art Museum.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Wyle spent a lot of time as a child at his grandparents' 4,000-acre cattle ranch in North Fork, California<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and described his family as "half-city, half-country mice".<ref name=rudetsky>Template:Cite news</ref> Wyle's mother is Episcopalian and was raised in Kentucky.<ref name=couric>Template:Cite news</ref> His father is Jewish; the Wyle surname was originally Weil<ref name=frankwyle/> and his ancestors were Russian Jews.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Growing up, Wyle's family was not religious but he felt "culturally" Jewish.<ref name=couric/>
Wyle's parents divorced in 1977 and both remarried.<ref name=peopleer/> Wyle was "greatly influenced" by his stepparents;<ref name=maron>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> his stepmother, Deborah, is a teacher<ref name=maron/><ref name=peoplewedding>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> while his stepfather, James C. Katz, is a film producer and preservationist.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the 1980s, Katz worked as a senior executive at Universal Studios<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and a young Wyle worked in craft services on movie sets and appeared as an uncredited extra in Paul Bartel's Lust in the Dust (1985).<ref name=maron/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> From his parents' marriage, Wyle has an older sister, Alexandra, and a younger brother, Aaron.<ref name=peoplewedding/> He has a younger half-sister, Jessica, from his father's second marriage<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and three step-siblings from Katz's first marriage;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Tabitha, Natasha and Matthew Frost were raised between France and Los Angeles.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Wyle was educated at Gardner Street Elementary School in Hollywood<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Oakwood School in North Hollywood.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He then spent four years at The Thacher School, a boarding school in Ojai, California known for its horseback riding program.<ref name=rudetsky/> He felt "way in over my head" academically and was placed on academic probation in his freshman year but ultimately graduated with a "decent" GPA.<ref name=rudetsky/> Wyle had always been "enamoured" by show business growing up in Hollywood<ref name=maron/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but he first acted on stage in his sophomore year at Thacher and, encouraged by the audience response, continued to act in, write and direct school plays.<ref name=rudetsky/> He attended the Cherubs Theatre Arts program at Northwestern University in the summer of his junior year and returned to high school "really focused" on becoming a professional actor.<ref name=rudetsky/> He was the first person in his family "in generations" to not attend college.<ref name=whodoyouthink/>
CareerEdit
1991–94: Early roles and rise to fame on EREdit
After graduating high school, Wyle moved into an apartment on Hollywood Boulevard, signed with an agent and began taking acting classes.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His parents were only willing to financially support a college education<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and he worked as a busboy and then waiter at the Bel Age Hotel's Diaghilev restaurant.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He appeared in Los Angeles stage productions<ref name=blanklatimes>Template:Cite news</ref> and made a one-line appearance in the NBC miniseries Blind Faith (1990).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His first credited movie role was in the family drama Crooked Hearts (1991), with Peter Rainer of the Los Angeles Times remarking upon his "appealingly awe-struck innocence".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He appeared as a Hitler Youth leader in the historical drama Swing Kids (1993),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> as a high school student in the coming-of-age ensemble There Goes My Baby (1994)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and as Lancelot in the Lifetime movie Guinevere (1994).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His most notable role in this period was as a marine in the courtroom drama A Few Good Men (1992), directed by Rob Reiner and written by Aaron Sorkin. The film was a box office success and was nominated for Best Picture at the 1993 Academy Awards.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
At the age of 22, Wyle was focused on "movies and plays" but was encouraged by his agent to audition for the television pilot of a medical drama called ER.<ref name=roles>Template:Cite news</ref> The character of medical student John Carter was initially conceived of as comic relief and the casting director was impressed by Wyle's facility for "physical comedy" during the audition process.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Wyle himself felt a personal connection: "Right off the bat, I identified with him being born with a silver spoon in his mouth and it never quite fitting."<ref name=roles/> After filming the ER pilot, Wyle auditioned for the part of Ross Geller in another Warner Brothers pilot Friends; producers wanted him to film a screen test for the network but had to first wait to see whether ER would get picked up for a full season.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> ER tested highly with audiences, was ordered for a full season and began airing on September 19, 1994. It soon became the second most-watched show on television after Seinfeld.<ref name=postmortem>Template:Cite news</ref> The main ensemble cast - Anthony Edwards, George Clooney, Eriq La Salle, Sherry Stringfield and Julianna Margulies - rose to fame<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Wyle, the youngest member, has credited the others as mentors.
1995–2005: Continued ER successEdit
ER was a cultural phenomenon<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and is now considered one of the all-time greatest television shows.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It was the most-watched show in television for three years and, on one occasion, attracted 47.8 million viewers.<ref name=postmortem/> As part of promotion for the show, Wyle appeared as a doctor in Sesame Street,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> played an exaggerated version of himself in the sitcom The Larry Sanders Show<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> (sharing scenes with Mandy Patinkin, a family friend),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and guest-starred with Clooney in an episode of Friends.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> For his performance in ER, Wyle was nominated for five consecutive Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As part of the ensemble cast, he won four Screen Actors Guild Awards, with a further three nominations. By 2001, Wyle had become one of the highest-paid actors in history for a television drama,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> earning an estimated $9 million a year.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
In between seasons of ER, Wyle continued to do film work.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was offered parts in Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan (1998) and Clooney's Good Night and Good Luck (2005) but was unable to accept either due to ER's filming schedule.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He starred in the independent family drama The Myth of Fingerprints (1997)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and made a cameo in the comedy Can't Stop Dancing (1999).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He portrayed Steve Jobs in the TNT television movie Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999) and was later invited by Jobs to address the 1999 NY Macworld Expo audience in character.<ref name=wyle>"Noah Wyle on playing Steve Jobs." Fortune Magazine, October 7, 2011.</ref> He then had a series of supporting roles; playing the President's interpreter in the televised broadcast play Fail Safe (2000),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> a science teacher in the thriller Donnie Darko (2001),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> a mob enforcer in Scenes of the Crime (2001),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> an unsupportive husband in White Oleander (2002)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and a corrupt police officer in Enough (2002).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Wyle had starring roles in the TNT adventure movie The Librarian: Quest for the Spear (2004)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the independent drama The Californians (2005).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
During his time on ER, Wyle remained involved with the Los Angeles-based Blank Theatre Company, where he had first worked as a teenage actor.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He appeared opposite Peter Berg in the 1995 production of The 24th Day.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1998, he became the company's artistic producer.<ref name=blanklatimes/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His leadership role involved "constant fundraising" and "grant writing";<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> he personally donated the money for the acquisition of the 2nd Stage Theatre premises.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Over the years, he acted in many entries for the annual Young Playwrights Festival,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and described the competition as one of the "most gratifying" experiences of his career.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> For his work as a producer of The Wild Party in 2005, he won an NAACP Theatre Award.<ref name='Playbill-NAACP-Theatre-Winners-2007'>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2005, in ER's eleventh season, Wyle became the final cast member from the original ensemble to leave. Following the birth of his first child, he found the grueling work schedule incompatible with "the kind of parent I want to be": "But I’ve always said about our show that there’s really no point in leaving unless you’re ready to change your life. You can’t find better material or work with nicer people or a better crew."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He returned in 2006 to appear in five episodes of the twelfth season and again in 2009 for five episodes of the show's fifteenth and final season, including the series finale.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By the end of the show's run, Wyle had appeared in 254 episodes, more than any other major cast member.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Wyle later said: "I got to play a character I never felt pigeonholed by because he constantly changed and evolved. If I'd stayed being the comic relief character who was always screwing up, that may have been frustrating but he kept growing as I kept growing."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2006–2019: The Librarians and Falling SkiesEdit
Wyle returned to the stage in 2006, playing Salvador Dalí in a well-reviewed production of Lobster Alice at his Blank Theatre Company's 2nd Stage Theatre.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Julio Martinez of Variety found him "a delight" and praised his "well-honed comic timing".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> (Wyle would remain in his role as artistic producer of the Blank Theatre Company for over twenty years before stepping down.)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=maron/> Wyle then returned to the character of Flynn from 2004's television movie The Librarian, launching what would become a franchise with two sequels, The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines (2006) and The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice (2008). Wyle had supporting roles in three 2008 movies; he played a lawyer in the political thriller Nothing but the Truth,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> a journalist in the coming-of-age drama An American Affair<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Donald Evans in Oliver Stone's W. (2008).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Also in 2008, Wyle and Alan Alda starred in a production of L'Histoire du soldat at New York's 92nd Street Y.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His lead performance in the satirical comedy Queen of the Lot (2010) was well-reviewed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2011, six years after leaving ER, Wyle had "an itch" to return to regular television work.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He starred as the lead in TNT's sci-fi series Falling Skies (2011–2015). Wyle played Tom Mason, a former history professor who becomes the second-in-command of an army regiment fighting aliens in post-apocalyptic Boston.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He appeared as a business executive in the sports film Snake & Mongoose (2013)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and as a pot dealer in the Appalachian thriller The World Made Straight (2015).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Wyle starred in a television series called The Librarians (2014–2018) which focuses on three additional new librarians who are brought into the library at a time of cataclysmic events.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2016, he appeared in an episode of the sitcom Angie Tribeca.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He made a cameo apperance as John Stanley Pottinger in the political thriller Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House (2017).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His lead performance as a gunshot victim in the drama Shot (2017) was praised.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2018, he starred in an episode of Matthew Weiner's anthology drama series The Romanoffs.
In 2019, Wyle's performance as a grieving husband in the eight-part limited series The Red Line was critically acclaimed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Matt Zoller Seitz of New York Magazine praised "a career-capping performance": "It’s easy to take his brand of unfussy, direct acting for granted, but he’s so moving here — particularly in all the father-daughter scenes with Royale — that it’s impossible not to appreciate all the excellent work he’s done over the decades, and continues to do."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Wyle was nominated for a Critics' Choice Television Award. In 2022, he starred in the independent thriller At The Gates.
2020–present: Resurgence with The PittEdit
He starred as Harry Wilson in Leverage: Redemption (2021-).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Wyle's performance as Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch in the Max series The Pitt (2025–) led to a career resurgence.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It marked a return to the medical procedural genre, with Wyle and John Wells making the character "so different by design": "I was interested in playing a guy who came from a way more blue-collar background and who hadn’t had any of those early opportunities."<ref name="tvinsider">Template:Cite news</ref> It marked the first time Wyle played a Jewish character and he used a family name for the character.<ref name=couric/><ref name="tvinsider"/>
Personal lifeEdit
Wyle lives on a ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley, California, which he purchased in 1999.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He also has a residence in Los Feliz, Los Angeles.<ref name=maron/>
Wyle was married to make-up artist Tracy Warbin from 2000 to 2010. They met on the set of The Myth of Fingerprints in early 1996,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> became engaged in 1999<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and married in 2000.<ref name=peoplewedding/> They have a son, Owen Strausser Wyle (born November 9, 2002),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and a daughter, Auden Wyle (born October 15, 2005).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Wyle and Warbin separated in 2009 and divorced in 2010.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Wyle has been married to actress Sara Wells since 2014. They met in 2011 during a production at The Blank Theatre Company in Los Angeles. They married in June 2014 at their home in Santa Ynez<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> in a ceremony officiated by Jan Dance, the wife of David Crosby, with whom Wyle had formed a close friendship in the late 1990s.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Their daughter, Frances Harper Wyle, was born on June 22, 2015.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Political advocacy and activismEdit
While working on ER, Wyle worked with international non-profit organization Doctors of the World and the Human Rights Watch Council.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Wyle was the spokesperson for the Cover the Uninsured campaign in 2004.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite press release</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":0" />
Additionally, Wyle is a supporter of animal rights and worked with the World Wildlife Fund.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead link</ref> In 2012, Wyle supported the disability rights group ADAPT.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On April 23, he was arrested during a protest on Capitol Hill to fight against Medicaid cuts for the elderly and people with disabilities.<ref>Template:Cite news He was arrested.</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Just after Donald Trump won the 2016 general election, Wyle participated in a video released by Unite for America.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
FilmographyEdit
FilmEdit
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Crooked Hearts | Ask | |
| 1992 | A Few Good Men | Cpl. Jeffrey Barnes | |
| 1993 | Swing Kids | Emil Lutz | |
| 1994 | There Goes My Baby | Michael Finnegan | |
| 1997 | The Myth of Fingerprints | Warren | Also associate producer |
| 1999 | Can't Stop Dancing | Poe | |
| Pirates of Silicon Valley | Steve Jobs | ||
| 2001 | Donnie Darko | Prof. Kenneth Monnitoff | |
| Scenes of the Crime | Seth | ||
| 2002 | Enough | Robbie | |
| White Oleander | Mark Richards | ||
| 2005 | The Californians | Gavin Ransom | |
| 2008 | Nothing But the Truth | Avril Aaronson | |
| An American Affair | Mike Stafford | ||
| W. | Donald Evans | ||
| 2010 | Below the Beltway | Hunter Patrick | |
| Queen of the Lot | Aaron Lambert | ||
| 2013 | Snake & Mongoose | Arthur Spear | |
| 2015 | The World Made Straight | Leonard Shuler | |
| 2017 | Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House | Stan Pottinger | |
| Shot | Mark Newman |
TelevisionEdit
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Blind Faith | Eric | Miniseries; 2 episodes | |
| 1994 | Guinevere | Lancelot | Television film | |
| 1994–2009 | ER | Dr. John Carter | Main role (seasons 1–11 and 15); guest star (season 12) | |
| 1995 | Friends | Dr. Jeffrey Rosen | Episode: "The One with Two Parts: Part 2" | |
| The Larry Sanders Show | Himself | Episode: "Eight" | ||
| 1996 | Sesame Street | Dr. Colburn | 2 episodes: "Maria Goes To The Hospital" | |
| 1999 | Pirates of Silicon Valley | Steve Jobs | Television film | |
| Save Our History: America's Most Endangered 1999 | Himself | Host | ||
| 2000 | Fail Safe | Buck | Television film | |
| Beggars and Choosers | Davis G. Green | Episode: "The Naked Truth" | ||
| 2004 | The Librarian: Quest for the Spear | Flynn Carsen | Television film | |
| 2006 | The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines | Flynn Carsen | Television film; also writer | |
| 2008 | The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice | Flynn Carsen | Television film; also writer | |
| 2011–2015 | Falling Skies | Tom Mason | Main role; also writer and producer | |
| 2013 | Lab Rats | Dr. Evans | Episode: "Twas the Mission Before Christmas" | |
| 2014 | Phineas and Ferb | Martin the news vendor (voice) | Episode: "Night of the Living Pharmacists" | |
| 2014–2018 | The Librarians | Flynn Carsen | Recurring role; also writer, director, and executive producer | |
| 2015 | Drunk History | Thomas Nast | Episode: "Journalism" | |
| 2016 | Angie Tribeca | Lewis Alcindor | Episode: "Organ Trail" | |
| 2018 | The Romanoffs | Ivan | Episode: "The Royal We" | |
| 2019 | The Red Line | Daniel Calder | Main role | |
| 2019–2020 | 25 Words or Less | Himself | 3 episodes | |
| 2021–present | Leverage: Redemption | Harry Wilson | Main role seasons 1–2; recurring role season 3; also writer and director | |
| 2025–present | The Pitt | Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch | Main role; also writer and executive producer | |
| 2025 | The Librarians: The Next Chapter | Template:N/A | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
Awards and nominationsEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
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