James Tolkan, Acting - KorPlix:Korean Person Archives

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James Tolkan
Acting

James Tolkan
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1931-06-20,Calumet, Michigan, USA
Gender
Male
Biography
Fiery, forceful and intimidating character actor James Tolkan 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 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).

Filmography

Back to the Future

8.32

Back to the Future
1985-07-03

Back to the Future Part II

7.772

Back to the Future Part II
1989-11-22

Back to the Future Part III

7.5

Back to the Future Part III
1990-05-25

7.069

WarGames
1983-06-03

7.201

Val
2021-07-23

7.06

Top Gun
1986-05-16

Family Business

5.7

Family Business
1989-12-06

5

Boiling Point
1993-04-16

Opportunity Knocks

5.7

Opportunity Knocks
1990-03-30

Masters of the Universe

5.73

Masters of the Universe
1987-08-07

6.1

Iceman
1984-04-13

6.6

Made in Heaven
1987-11-06

6.941

Heavens Fall
2006-07-20

Problem Child 2

5.871

Problem Child 2
1991-07-03

4.7

Off Beat
1986-04-10

6.3

7 Times Lucky
2004-01-17

Bloodfist IV: Die Trying

5.067

Bloodfist IV: Die Trying
1992-11-18

6.556

Little Spies
1986-10-05

Split Decisions

5.1

Split Decisions
1988-06-11

5.464

True Blood
1989-04-28

5.699

Phil Spector
2013-06-14

Looking Back to the Future

8.4

Looking Back to the Future
2009-02-10

The Case of the Hillside Stranglers

5.933

The Case of the Hillside Stranglers
1989-04-02

7.503

Love and Death
1975-06-10

They Might Be Giants

7

They Might Be Giants
1971-06-09

4.2

Hangfire
1991-01-11

The Amityville Horror

6.289

The Amityville Horror
1979-07-27

Armed and Dangerous

5.7

Armed and Dangerous
1986-08-15

5.2

Robo Warriors
1997-01-15

5.8

Turk 182!
1985-02-15

4.258

Second Sight
1989-11-03

1.5

Weekend War
1988-02-01

7.53

Serpico
1973-12-18

Driving Me Crazy

3.7

Driving Me Crazy
1991-05-16

Prince of the City

7.006

Prince of the City
1981-08-19

3.5

Viper
1988-01-01

6.301

The River
1984-12-01

Sketch Artist II: Hands That See

5.921

Sketch Artist II: Hands That See
1995-01-28

6.864

Bone Tomahawk
2015-10-23

4.952

Underworld
1996-06-01

5.294

Hanky Panky
1982-06-04

6.1

Dick Tracy
1990-04-05

6.539

Back in Time
2015-10-20

Ministry of Vengeance

3

Ministry of Vengeance
1989-11-03

0

Flanagan
1985-10-30

The Three Sisters

0

The Three Sisters
1966-01-01

Tales from the Future

7.5

Tales from the Future
2010-10-26

5.9

Wolfen
1981-07-24

The Friends of Eddie Coyle

7.275

The Friends of Eddie Coyle
1973-06-26

Question of Faith

0

Question of Faith
1988-10-06

Author! Author!

5.924

Author! Author!
1982-06-18

5.468

Sketch Artist
1992-04-26

5.2

Stiletto
1969-07-30

The Werewolf of Washington

3.7

The Werewolf of Washington
1973-10-01

7

Sunset Beat
1990-04-21

0

Wings
1983-04-26

0

Love in Ambush
1997-02-28

0

Independence
1976-07-04

Remington Steele

7.1

Remington Steele
1982-10-01

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

7.9

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
1990-09-10

7.365

The Pretender
1996-09-19

7.3

Early Edition
1996-09-28

5.5

Naked City
1958-09-30

Hill Street Blues

7.6

Hill Street Blues
1981-01-15

6.579

Cobra
1993-09-16

7.2

The Equalizer
1985-09-18

The Wonder Years

8.3

The Wonder Years
1988-01-31

5

Mary
1985-12-11

6.8

The Hat Squad
1992-09-16

7.6

Nowhere Man
1995-08-28

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

7.8

A Nero Wolfe Mystery
2001-04-22

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

7.8

A Nero Wolfe Mystery
2001-04-22

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

7.8

A Nero Wolfe Mystery
2001-04-22

7.6

Leverage
2008-12-07

Tales from the Crypt

7.951

Tales from the Crypt
1989-06-10

7.5

Miami Vice
1984-09-16

The Wonderful World of Disney

7.774

The Wonderful World of Disney
1954-10-27

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

7.8

A Nero Wolfe Mystery
2001-04-22