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James Tolkan

James Tolkan

Known for ActingBorn 1931-06-20Died 2026-03-26Calumet, Michigan, USA
Fiery, forceful and intimidating character actor James Tolkan 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).Read more

Movies & web series

Flanagan10.0
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Flanagan

1985 · Movie

Love in Ambush9.0
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Love in Ambush

1997 · Movie

Sunset Beat9.0
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Sunset Beat

1990 · Series

Question of Faith9.0
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Question of Faith

1988 · Movie

Independence9.0
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Independence

1976 · Movie

The Wonder Years8.3
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The Wonder Years

1988 · Series

Back to the Future8.3
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Back to the Future

1985 · Movie

Tales from the Crypt8.0
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Tales from the Crypt

1989 · Series

A Nero Wolfe Mystery7.8
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A Nero Wolfe Mystery

2001 · Series

Wings8.0
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Wings

1983 · Movie

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air7.9
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The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

1990 · Series

Nowhere Man7.8
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Nowhere Man

1995 · Series

Back to the Future Part II7.8
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Back to the Future Part II

1989 · Movie

Leverage7.6
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Leverage

2008 · Series

Hill Street Blues7.6
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Hill Street Blues

1981 · Series

The Wonderful World of Disney7.9
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The Wonderful World of Disney

1954 · Series

Back to the Future Part III7.5
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Back to the Future Part III

1990 · Movie

Looking Back to the Future7.3
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Looking Back to the Future

2009 · Movie

The Pretender7.4
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The Pretender

1996 · Series

Early Edition7.4
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Early Edition

1996 · Series

Miami Vice7.5
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Miami Vice

1984 · Series

Serpico7.5
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Serpico

1973 · Movie

Love and Death7.5
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Love and Death

1975 · Movie

Mary7.3
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Mary

1985 · Series

The Three Sisters7.5
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The Three Sisters

1966 · Movie

Heavens Fall7.0
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Heavens Fall

2006 · Movie

Bone Tomahawk6.9
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Bone Tomahawk

2015 · Movie

The Equalizer7.1
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The Equalizer

1985 · Series

The Friends of Eddie Coyle7.2
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The Friends of Eddie Coyle

1973 · Movie

Top Gun7.1
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Top Gun

1986 · Movie

Remington Steele7.1
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Remington Steele

1982 · Series

Guns: A Day in the Death of America7.0
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Guns: A Day in the Death of America

1990 · Movie

WarGames7.1
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WarGames

1983 · Movie

Prince of the City7.0
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Prince of the City

1981 · Movie

Tales from the Future6.7
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Tales from the Future

2010 · Movie

7 Times Lucky6.7
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7 Times Lucky

2004 · Movie

The Hat Squad6.8
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The Hat Squad

1992 · Series

They Might Be Giants7.0
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They Might Be Giants

1971 · Movie

Back in Time6.5
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Back in Time

2015 · Movie

Cobra6.6
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Cobra

1993 · Series

Made in Heaven6.5
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Made in Heaven

1987 · Movie

The Case of the Hillside Stranglers6.5
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The Case of the Hillside Stranglers

1989 · Movie

Little Spies6.5
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Little Spies

1986 · Movie

The River6.4
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The River

1984 · Movie

Dick Tracy6.2
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Dick Tracy

1990 · Movie

The Amityville Horror6.3
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The Amityville Horror

1979 · Movie

Iceman6.2
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Iceman

1984 · Movie

Sketch Artist II: Hands That See6.0
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Sketch Artist II: Hands That See

1995 · Movie