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 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

8.327

Back to the Future
1985-07-03

Back to the Future Part II

7.8

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

7.07

WarGames
1983-06-03

7.071

Top Gun
1986-05-16

Family Business

5.7

Family Business
1989-12-06

4.906

Boiling Point
1993-04-16

Opportunity Knocks

5.685

Opportunity Knocks
1990-03-30

Masters of the Universe

5.826

Masters of the Universe
1987-08-07

6.203

Iceman
1984-04-13

6.494

Made in Heaven
1987-11-06

7

Heavens Fall
2006-07-20

Problem Child 2

5.9

Problem Child 2
1991-07-03

4.8

Off Beat
1986-04-10

6.722

7 Times Lucky
2004-01-17

Bloodfist IV: Die Trying

5.3

Bloodfist IV: Die Trying
1992-11-18

6.5

Little Spies
1986-10-05

Split Decisions

5.096

Split Decisions
1988-06-11

5.719

True Blood
1989-04-28

5.667

Phil Spector
2013-06-14

Looking Back to the Future

6.625

Looking Back to the Future
2009-02-10

The Case of the Hillside Stranglers

6.474

The Case of the Hillside Stranglers
1989-04-02

7.467

Love and Death
1975-06-10

They Might Be Giants

6.957

They Might Be Giants
1971-06-09

4.667

Hangfire
1991-01-11

The Amityville Horror

6.281

The Amityville Horror
1979-07-27

Armed and Dangerous

5.66

Armed and Dangerous
1986-08-15

5.425

Robo Warriors
1996-10-01

5.934

Turk 182!
1985-02-15

4.5

Second Sight
1989-11-03

3.667

Weekend War
1988-02-01

7.525

Serpico
1973-12-18

Driving Me Crazy

3.815

Driving Me Crazy
1991-05-16

Prince of the City

7.011

Prince of the City
1981-08-19

4.4

Viper
1988-01-01

6.325

The River
1984-12-01

Sketch Artist II: Hands That See

6.024

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

6.882

Bone Tomahawk
2015-10-23

5.348

Underworld
1996-06-01

5.317

Hanky Panky
1982-06-04

6.16

Dick Tracy
1990-06-15

6.53

Back in Time
2015-10-20

Ministry of Vengeance

3.8

Ministry of Vengeance
1989-11-03

10

Flanagan
1985-10-30

The Three Sisters

7.5

The Three Sisters
1966-01-01

Tales from the Future

6.125

Tales from the Future
2010-10-26

5.957

Wolfen
1981-07-24

The Friends of Eddie Coyle

7.213

The Friends of Eddie Coyle
1973-06-26

Question of Faith

9

Question of Faith
1988-10-06

Author! Author!

5.9

Author! Author!
1982-06-18

5.319

Sketch Artist
1992-04-26

5.286

Stiletto
1969-07-30

The Werewolf of Washington

3.9

The Werewolf of Washington
1973-10-01

8

Wings
1983-04-26

9

Love in Ambush
1997-02-28

9

Independence
1976-07-04

Guns: A Day in the Death of America

7

Guns: A Day in the Death of America
1990-06-16

Remington Steele

7.1

Remington Steele
1982-10-01

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

7.905

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

7.372

The Pretender
1996-09-19

7.325

Early Edition
1996-09-28

5.7

Naked City
1958-09-30

Hill Street Blues

7.618

Hill Street Blues
1981-01-15

6.6

Cobra
1993-09-16

7.145

The Equalizer
1985-09-18

The Wonder Years

8.335

The Wonder Years
1988-01-31

7.333

Mary
1985-12-11

6.833

The Hat Squad
1992-09-16

7.789

Nowhere Man
1995-08-28

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

7.885

A Nero Wolfe Mystery
2001-04-22

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

7.885

A Nero Wolfe Mystery
2001-04-22

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

7.885

A Nero Wolfe Mystery
2001-04-22

7.574

Leverage
2008-12-07

Tales from the Crypt

7.973

Tales from the Crypt
1989-06-10

7.441

Miami Vice
1984-09-16

The Wonderful World of Disney

7.914

The Wonderful World of Disney
1954-10-27

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

7.885

A Nero Wolfe Mystery
2001-04-22

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

7.885

A Nero Wolfe Mystery
2001-04-22

9

Sunset Beat
1990-04-21

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

7.885

A Nero Wolfe Mystery
2001-04-22

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

7.885

A Nero Wolfe Mystery
2001-04-22

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

7.885

A Nero Wolfe Mystery
2001-04-22

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

7.885

A Nero Wolfe Mystery
2001-04-22

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

7.885

A Nero Wolfe Mystery
2001-04-22

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

7.885

A Nero Wolfe Mystery
2001-04-22

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

7.885

A Nero Wolfe Mystery
2001-04-22

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

7.885

A Nero Wolfe Mystery
2001-04-22

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

7.885

A Nero Wolfe Mystery
2001-04-22

American Playhouse

6.6

American Playhouse
1982-01-12