Sad news this Friday evening, as it’s been announced that James Tolkan has died at the age of 94. The actor was best known for playing Mr. Strickland in the Back to the Future trilogy, the principal of Hill Valley High School who has it out for slackers. He also played Tom Cruise’s no-nonsense commanding officer in Top Gun, but the man had a constant presence throughout the ’80s.
James Tolkan’s Career
After serving in the United States Navy during the Korean War, Tolkan went back to college, where he majored in art and minored in music. However, he was very nervous about singing in front of an audience, so a friend suggested he try out for a play to get used to it. “So I tried out for a play and was cast in the lead,” he said in a 2012 interview. “I was like, ‘Hey, this is interesting.’ So I did another play at the community theater and suddenly I became very interested in acting.” And then, he had officially caught the acting bug.
Tolkan appeared in movies such as Serpico, Love and Death, The Amityville Horror, Wolfen, Author! Author!, WarGames, The River, Armed and Dangerous, Masters of the Universe, Family Business, Dick Tracy, Problem Child 2, Bone Tomahawk, and more.
As for the small screen, he appeared in episodes of Hill Street Blues, Remington Steele, Miami Vice, The Equalizer, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Tales from the Crypt, The Wonder Years, and so much more.
Principal Strickland
Tolkan played Strickland, or variations of the character, in the first two Back to the Future movies, but with Back to the Future Part III taking things back to 1885, he got to play the character’s grandfather, the Marshal of Hill Valley. Also, he got to have hair in that one. “Back to the Future 3 was the most fun I had playing him [he played his grandfather],” Tolkan said. “But they were all fun in different respects. It was fun to put on the nice wig in the third one, that was cool.“
Speaking of hair, Tolkan was almost always seen bald, as he started losing it when he was just a teenager. “You know, when I was in high school I had the most beautiful hair,” he said. “The girls used to like to touch my hair, it was so soft. And then, by the time I was 17 years old I was losing my hair and it was tragic, it was so painful. But it was my best feature.” I feel ya.
He was a truly wonderful and memorable character actor throughout his long career, and will be missed. Our thoughts and condolences go out to his family and friends.
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