Veteran character actor James Tolkan, best known for his work in films like “Top Gun” and “Back to the Future,” has died. He was 94. The actor died Thursday in Saranac Lake, New York, according to a family spokesperson.
The man had a specialty for playing intense and intimidating characters, most notably as the slackers-hating Hill Valley High School principal Mr. Strickland in the original “Back to the Future” and variations of the character in the sequels.
He was also the no-nonsense commanding officer for Tom Cruise’s Maverick in “Top Gun”. Other notable turns include playing the accountant Numbers in Warren Beatty’s “Dick Tracy,” as Napoleon in Woody Allen’s “Love and Death,” a detective in “Masters of the Universe,” a coroner in “The Amityville Horror,” an FBI agent in “WarGames,” a treasurer in “Armed and Dangerous,” and a pianist in “Bone Tomahawk”.
Tolkan was a go-to talent for filmmaker Sidney Lumet, who cast him in a trio of films – “Serpico,” “Prince of the City” and “Family Business”. He also guest-starred on TV shows including “The Equalizer,” “Miami Vice,” “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “The Wonder Years,” “Nowhere Man,” “Early Edition,” “The Pretender,” “Hill Street Blues” and had a recurring role on “Remington Steele”.
On Broadway, Tolkan portrayed salesman Dave Moss in the original production of David Mamet’s “Glengarry Glen Ross” (Ed Harris played the movie version) and replaced Robert Duvall as the villain in the original Broadway production of “Wait Until Dark”.
He is survived by his wife, Parmelee, who worked at the American Place Theater as a costume and scenery painter.
Source: THR
