1931-06-20 Calumet, Michigan, USA
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).
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Cine Docs: Back to the Future | Mr. Strickland (archive footage) | 2024-01-23 |
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Val | Self (archive footage) | 2021-07-23 |
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Back in Time | Self | 2015-10-20 |
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Bone Tomahawk | Pianist | 2015-10-23 |
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Phil Spector | Judge Fidler | 2013-03-24 |
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Tales from the Future | Self | 2010-10-26 |
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Looking Back to the Future | Self | 2009-02-10 |
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Heavens Fall | Thomas Knight, Sr. | 2006-07-20 |
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Seven Times Lucky | Dutch | 2004-01-17 |
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Robo Warriors | Quon | 1997-01-15 |
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Underworld | Dan 'Iceberg' Eagan | 1996-06-01 |
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Sketch Artist II: Hands That See | Tonelli | 1995-01-28 |
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Boiling Point | Levitt | 1993-04-16 |
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Bloodfist IV: Die Trying | Agent Sterling | 1992-11-18 |
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Sketch Artist | Tonelli | 1992-04-26 |
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Hangfire | Patch | 1991-01-11 |
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Driving Me Crazy | Vince | 1991-05-16 |
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Problem Child 2 | Mr. Thron | 1991-07-03 |
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Opportunity Knocks | Sal | 1990-03-30 |
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Dick Tracy | Numbers | 1990-04-05 |
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Back to the Future Part III | Marshal Strickland | 1990-05-25 |
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Second Sight | Coolidge | 1989-11-03 |
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Back to the Future Part II | Strickland | 1989-11-22 |
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The Case of the Hillside Stranglers | Lt. Ed Henderson | 1989-04-02 |
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Family Business | Judge | 1989-12-06 |
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True Blood | Det. Joseph Hanley | 1989-04-28 |
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Ministry of Vengeance | Colonel Freeman | 1989-11-03 |
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Viper | William Tansey | 1988-01-01 |
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Question of Faith | Doctor Siegel | 1988-10-06 |
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Split Decisions | Benny Pistone | 1988-06-11 |
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Weekend War | Dr. Alex Thompson | 1988-02-01 |
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Made in Heaven | Mr. Bjornstead | 1987-11-06 |
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Masters of the Universe | Detective Lubic | 1987-08-07 |
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Top Gun | Cmdr. Tom 'Stinger' Jardian | 1986-05-16 |
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Off Beat | Harry | 1986-04-10 |
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Armed and Dangerous | Lou Brackman | 1986-08-15 |
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Little Spies | Kennel Master | 1986-10-05 |
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Flanagan | Turner | 1985-10-30 |
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Turk 182! | Hanley | 1985-02-15 |
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Back to the Future | Mr. Strickland | 1985-07-03 |
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Iceman | Maynard | 1984-04-13 |
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The River | Howard Simpson | 1984-12-01 |
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WarGames | Wigan | 1983-06-03 |
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Hanky Panky | Conferee | 1982-06-04 |
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Author! Author! | Lt. Glass | 1982-06-18 |
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Wolfen | Baldy | 1981-07-24 |
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Prince of the City | George Polito | 1981-08-19 |
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The Amityville Horror | Coroner | 1979-07-27 |
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Love and Death | Napoleon | 1975-06-10 |
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Serpico | Steiger | 1973-12-18 |
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The Werewolf of Washington | Dark Glasses | 1973-10-01 |
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The Friends of Eddie Coyle | The Man's contact man | 1973-06-26 |
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They Might Be Giants | Mr. Brown | 1971-06-09 |
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Stiletto | Edwards | 1969-07-30 |
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The Three Sisters | 1966-01-01 |
