Noah Emmerich

Emmerich was born in New York City, New York. His mother, Constance, is a concert pianist; his father, André Emmerich (1924–2007), was a gallery owner and art dealer. Born in Frankfurt, Germany, André emigrated from Nazi Germany with his family, first to Amsterdam, Netherlands, then to New York in 1940. His aunt was a classmate of Anne Frank. Emmerich's family is Jewish, from Germany and France on his father's side and Hungary and Romania on his mother's. He has two older brothers: Toby Emmerich, former chairman of Warner Bros. Pictures Group from 2018 to 2022; and Adam Emmerich, a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and co-chair of its corporate department.

Noah Emmerich attended the Dalton School and learned to play the trumpet as a youth. He privately studied the Meisner technique of acting under Ron Stetston, an actor/director who is currently a senior member of the acting staff at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. Emmerich graduated from Yale University in 1987 having received a bachelor's degree in history. He sang in the "Yale Spizzwinks(?)", an a cappella singing group which also included actor Joshua Malina.