Biography
James Tolkan was an American character actor. Born on 20 June 1931 in Calumet, Michigan, he died on 26 March 2026 in Saranac Lake, New York. He attended the University of Iowa, where he earned a BA in drama, as well as Coe College and Eastern Arizona College. After a short period of service in the United States Navy, he moved to New York and studied at the Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler.
Tolkan began his screen career in the late 1960s and appeared in films directed by Sidney Lumet, including Serpico (1973) and Prince of the City (1981). He is best known for portraying Principal Gerald Strickland in Back to the Future (1985), reprising the role in Back to the Future Part II (1989) and playing Marshal James Strickland in Back to the Future Part III (1990). Other film roles include Stinger in Top Gun (1986), Napoleon in Love and Death (1975), and Numbers in Dick Tracy (1990). He was a member of the original Broadway cast of Glengarry Glen Ross (1984).
Tolkan was married to Parmelee Welles from 1971; she worked in theatre as a prop and costume assistant.
