James Tolkan
Known For
Acting
Born
1931-06-20 in Calumet, Michigan, USA
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).
Most Known For
Miami Vice
as Mason Mather
The Wonder Years
as Coach Silva
Hill Street Blues
Tales from the Crypt
as Sgt. McClaine ("segment "The Trap")
The Equalizer
as Ruger
Leverage
as Dean Chesny
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
as Dr. Oates
Back to the Future
as Mr. Strickland
The Pretender
as FBI Special Agent Korkos
Naked City
as Evan Humbolt, Mail Clerk
Remington Steele
as Norman Keyes
Top Gun
as Stinger
Early Edition
as Coach Philips
Back to the Future Part II
as Strickland
Back to the Future Part III
as Marshal Strickland
Nowhere Man
as Commander Cyrus Quinn
Dick Tracy
as Numbers
Bone Tomahawk
as Pianist
A Nero Wolfe Mystery
as Richard Wragg
A Nero Wolfe Mystery
as Mr. Hackett