Did not reveal he was terminally ill from lung cancer while doing his last acting role on "Murder, She Wrote" (1984) early in that show's second season. He appears to have filmed the show shortly before his 83rd birthday. It aired after his death six weeks later. The strain of fighting the illness had devastated his memory and much of his physical strength. Series star Angela Lansbury worked hard to get him through his scenes.
Frequently portraying doctors in his later years, the actor bore a more than passing resemblance to famed Alabama physician Lloyd Noland - the spelling of their names differed by only a single letter.
Profiled in "Hollywood Players: The Thirties" by James Robert Parish and Wiliam T. Leonard.
When John Ford rather coyly asked young John Wayne who he thought might be good as "The Ringo Kid" in Stagecoach (1939), Wayne suggested Nolan.