James Tolkan, Back to the Future’s Mr. Strickland, Dead at 94

Actor James Tolkan, who was Tom Cruise’s no-nonsense commander in Top Gun and Marty McFly’s even less-nonsense Vice Principal in the Back to the Future films, has died. He was 94. A family spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter Tolkan died Thursday in Saranac Lake, New York.

Born in 1931 in Calumet, Michigan, Tolkan went into the Navy after high school. In 1956, he came to New York with $75 to his name, studying at the Actors Studio with Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg. Tolkan’s first gigs were in TV and on Broadway — appearing in an episode of Naked City and understudying for Robert Duvall in the original Broadway production of Wait Until Dark. Tolkan replaced Duvall in the role of Harry Roat, but Alan Arkin got the job in the 1967 film adaptation. In 1984, he played Dave Moss in the Broadway run of Glengarry Glen Ross. Ed Harris played the character in the 1992 film.

Tolkan’s most famous role is as multiple members of the Strickland family in the Back to the Future movies. As Mr. Strickland, he derides slacker Marty McFly in Back to the Future I and II, and he plays his own ancestor in Part III. Fans would beg Tolkan to ream them out for their slacking tendencies wherever he went. Other big film roles include Tom “Stinger” Jardian in Top Gun, and three films by Sidney Lumet. Tolkan was a cop in Serpico, a DA in Prince of the City, and a judge in Family Business. 

In 1971, Tolkan met his wife, Parmelee on the set of Pinkville off-Broadway. She worked in props, and he was an actor. They wed that year in Lake Placid and stayed married until his death.