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

8.317

Back to the Future
1985-07-03

Back to the Future Part II

7.759

Back to the Future Part II
1989-11-22

Back to the Future Part III

7.47

Back to the Future Part III
1990-05-25

7.056

Top Gun
1986-05-16

7.077

WarGames
1983-06-03

Family Business

5.69

Family Business
1989-12-06

4.932

Boiling Point
1993-04-16

Masters of the Universe

5.708

Masters of the Universe
1987-08-07

Opportunity Knocks

5.7

Opportunity Knocks
1990-03-30

6.143

Iceman
1984-04-13

7.4

Heavens Fall
2006-07-20

Problem Child 2

5.835

Problem Child 2
1991-07-03

Seven Times Lucky

6.2

Seven Times Lucky
2004-01-17

Bloodfist IV: Die Trying

5.5

Bloodfist IV: Die Trying
1992-11-18

Split Decisions

5.1

Split Decisions
1988-06-11

5.8

True Blood
1989-04-28

6.244

The River
1984-12-01

5.7

Phil Spector
2013-03-24

The Case of the Hillside Stranglers

6.3

The Case of the Hillside Stranglers
1989-04-02

They Might Be Giants

7

They Might Be Giants
1971-06-09

7.532

Love and Death
1975-06-10

4.2

Hangfire
1991-01-11

The Amityville Horror

6.3

The Amityville Horror
1979-07-27

Armed and Dangerous

5.7

Armed and Dangerous
1986-08-15

5.3

Robo Warriors
1997-01-15

5.822

Turk 182!
1985-02-15

4.448

Second Sight
1989-11-03

7.54

Serpico
1973-12-18

2

Weekend War
1988-02-01

Driving Me Crazy

3.7

Driving Me Crazy
1991-05-16

Prince of the City

7.007

Prince of the City
1981-08-19

3.3

Viper
1988-01-01

6.8

Bone Tomahawk
2015-10-23

Sketch Artist II: Hands That See

5.967

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

5.158

Underworld
1996-06-01

5.3

Hanky Panky
1982-06-04

6.148

Dick Tracy
1990-04-05

6.531

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

7.4

Tales from the Future
2010-10-26

5.918

Wolfen
1981-07-24

The Friends of Eddie Coyle

7.262

The Friends of Eddie Coyle
1973-06-26

Question of Faith

0

Question of Faith
1988-10-06

Author! Author!

5.864

Author! Author!
1982-06-18

5.5

Sketch Artist
1992-04-26

5.3

Stiletto
1969-07-30

The Werewolf of Washington

3.8

The Werewolf of Washington
1973-10-01

7

Val
2021-07-23

6.676

Made in Heaven
1987-11-06

4.7

Off Beat
1986-04-10

Looking Back to the Future

8

Looking Back to the Future
2009-02-10

6.4

Little Spies
1986-10-05

Cine Docs: Back to the Future

0

Cine Docs: Back to the Future
2024-01-23

7.362

The Pretender
1996-09-19

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

7.948

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

7.479

Miami Vice
1984-09-16

6.688

Cobra
1993-09-16

5.333

Naked City
1958-09-30

The Wonder Years

8.331

The Wonder Years
1988-01-31

5

Mary
1985-12-11

Remington Steele

7.043

Remington Steele
1982-10-01

7.339

Early Edition
1996-09-28

Hill Street Blues

7.574

Hill Street Blues
1981-01-15

7.057

The Equalizer
1985-09-18

7

The Hat Squad
1992-09-16

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

7.8

A Nero Wolfe Mystery
2001-04-22

7.578

Leverage
2008-12-07

Tales from the Crypt

7.967

Tales from the Crypt
1989-06-10

7.464

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