James Tolkan
Acting • Born 1931-06-20
Biography
Fiery, forceful and intimidating character actor James Tolkan has carved out a nice little niche for himself in both movies and television alike as a formidable portrayer of fierce and flinty hard-boiled tough guy types. James Stewart Tolkan was born on June 20, 1931 in Calumet, Michigan. His father, Ralph M. Tolkan, was a cattle dealer. James attended the University of Iowa, Coe College and Eastern Arizona College. After serving a year-long stint in the United States Navy, Tolkan went to New York and studied acting with both Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler at the Actors Studio. Short and bald, with beady, intense eyes, a wiry, compact, muscular build, a gruff, jarring, high-decibel voice, and an aggressive, confrontational, blunt-as-a-battle-ax, rough-around-the-edges demeanor, Tolkan has been often cast as rugged, cynical no-nonsense cops, mean, domineering authority figures, and various ruthless and dangerous criminals. Tolkan first began acting in movies in the late 1960s and was highly effective in two pictures for Sidney Lumet: He was a rabidly homophobic police lieutenant in the superbly gritty Serpico (1973) and a sneaky district attorney in the equally excellent Prince of the City (1981). Best known as the obnoxiously overzealous high school principal Gerard Strickland in the Back to the Future films, Tolkan's other most memorable roles include Napolean in Woody Allen's Love and Death (1975), a ramrod army officer in WarGames (1983), mayor Robert Culp's mordant, wisecracking assistant in Turk 182 (1985), the hard-nosed Stinger in Top Gun (1986), the choleric Detective Lubric in Masters of the Universe (1987), meek mob accountant Numbers in Dick Tracy (1990), and Wesley Snipes' bullish superior in Boiling Point (1993).
Filmography
78 credits
Back to the Future
Movie • 1985
Mr. Strickland
Back to the Future Part II
Movie • 1989
Strickland
Back to the Future Part III
Movie • 1990
Marshal Strickland
WarGames
Movie • 1983
Wigan
Top Gun
Movie • 1986
Stinger
Family Business
Movie • 1989
Judge
Boiling Point
Movie • 1993
Levitt
Opportunity Knocks
Movie • 1990
Sal
Masters of the Universe
Movie • 1987
Detective Lubic
Iceman
Movie • 1984
Maynard
Made in Heaven
Movie • 1987
Mr. Bjornstead
Heavens Fall
Movie • 2006
Thomas Knight, Sr.
Problem Child 2
Movie • 1991
Mr. Thron
Off Beat
Movie • 1986
Harry
7 Times Lucky
Movie • 2004
Dutch
Bloodfist IV: Die Trying
Movie • 1992
Agent Sterling
Little Spies
Movie • 1986
Kennel Master
Split Decisions
Movie • 1988
Benny Pistone
True Blood
Movie • 1989
Det. Joseph Hanley
Phil Spector
Movie • 2013
Judge Fidler
Looking Back to the Future
Movie • 2009
Self
The Case of the Hillside Stranglers
Movie • 1989
Lt. Ed Henderson
Love and Death
Movie • 1975
Napoleon
They Might Be Giants
Movie • 1971
Mr. Brown
Hangfire
Movie • 1991
Patch
The Amityville Horror
Movie • 1979
Coroner
Armed and Dangerous
Movie • 1986
Lou Brackman
Robo Warriors
Movie • 1996
Quon
Turk 182!
Movie • 1985
Hanley
Second Sight
Movie • 1989
Coolidge
Weekend War
Movie • 1988
Dr. Alex Thompson
Serpico
Movie • 1973
Steiger
Driving Me Crazy
Movie • 1991
Vince
Prince of the City
Movie • 1981
George Polito
Viper
Movie • 1988
William Tansey
The River
Movie • 1984
Howard Simpson
Sketch Artist II: Hands That See
Movie • 1995
Tonelli
Bone Tomahawk
Movie • 2015
Pianist
Underworld
Movie • 1996
Dan 'Iceberg' Eagan
Hanky Panky
Movie • 1982
Conferee
Dick Tracy
Movie • 1990
Numbers
Back in Time
Movie • 2015
Self
Ministry of Vengeance
Movie • 1989
Colonel Freeman
Flanagan
Movie • 1985
Turner
The Three Sisters
Movie • 1966
Tales from the Future
Movie • 2010
Self
Wolfen
Movie • 1981
Baldy
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
Movie • 1973
The Man's contact man
Question of Faith
Movie • 1988
Doctor Siegel
Author! Author!
Movie • 1982
Lt. Glass
Sketch Artist
Movie • 1992
Tonelli
Stiletto
Movie • 1969
Edwards
The Werewolf of Washington
Movie • 1973
Dark Glasses
Wings
Movie • 1983
Billy
Love in Ambush
Movie • 1997
Agent Price
Independence
Movie • 1976
Tom Paine
Guns: A Day in the Death of America
Movie • 1990
Narrator
Remington Steele
TV • 1982
Norman Keyes
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
TV • 1990
Dr. Oates
The Pretender
TV • 1996
FBI Special Agent Korkos
Early Edition
TV • 1996
Coach Philips
Naked City
TV • 1958
Evan Humbolt, Mail Clerk
Hill Street Blues
TV • 1981
Cobra
TV • 1993
Dallas Cassel
The Equalizer
TV • 1985
Ruger
The Wonder Years
TV • 1988
Coach Silva
Mary
TV • 1985
Lester Mintz
The Hat Squad
TV • 1992
Mike Ragland
Nowhere Man
TV • 1995
Commander Cyrus Quinn
A Nero Wolfe Mystery
TV • 2001
Richard Wragg
A Nero Wolfe Mystery
TV • 2001
Mr. Hackett
A Nero Wolfe Mystery
TV • 2001
FBI Agent Richard Wragg
Leverage
TV • 2008
Dean Chesny
Tales from the Crypt
TV • 1989
Sgt. McClaine ("segment "The Trap")
Miami Vice
TV • 1984
Mason Mather
The Wonderful World of Disney
TV • 1954
The Kennel Master
A Nero Wolfe Mystery
TV • 2001
Leo Bingham
A Nero Wolfe Mystery
TV • 2001
Bernard Quest