James Tolkan

Fiery, forceful and intimidating character actor 'James Tolkan' (qv) 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' (qv) and 'Stella Adler' (qv) 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' (qv): He was a rabidly homophobic police lieutenant in the superbly gritty _Serpico (1973)_ (qv) and a sneaky district attorney in the equally excellent _Prince of the City (1981)_ (qv). 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' (qv)'s _Love and Death (1975)_ (qv), a ramrod army officer in _WarGames (1983)_ (qv), mayor Robert Culp's mordant, wisecracking assistant in _Turk 182 (1985)_ (qv), the hard-nosed Stinger in _Top Gun (1986)_ (qv), the choleric Detective Lubric in _Masters of the Universe (1987)_ (qv), meek mob accountant Numbers in _Dick Tracy (1990)_ (qv), and 'Wesley Snipes' (qv)' bullish superior in _Boiling Point (1993)_ (qv).James has had recurring parts on the television series _A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2001)_ (qv) (he also directed two episodes), _Mary (1985)_ (qv), _Cobra (1993)_ (qv), _The Hat Squad (1992)_ (qv) and _Remington Steele (1982)_ (qv). Among the television series James has done guest spots on are _Naked City (1958)_ (qv), _Hill Street Blues (1981)_ (qv), _Miami Vice (1984)_ (qv), _The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990)_ (qv), _The Equalizer (1985)_ (qv), _The Wonder Years (1988)_ (qv) and _The Pretender (1996)_ (qv). Besides his film and television work, Tolkan has also performed on stage in productions of such plays as "Between Two Thieves", "Wings", "One Tennis Shoe", "The Front Page", "Twelve Angry Men", "Full Circle", "The Tempest", "Golda", "The Silent Partner" and the original 1984 Broadway production of 'David Mamet' (qv)'s "Glengary, Glen Ross". When he isn't acting, 'James Tolkan' (qv) spends his spare time collecting folk art.::woodyanders