James Tolkan

star 4.4

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  • group Other Names:
    James Tolkin, Jim Tolkan, James S. Tolkan, James B. Tolkan, James Stewart Tolkan, Джеймс Толкан

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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).

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  • wc Gender: Male
  • calendar_month Birth Date: 1931-06-20
  • event Death Date Unknown
  • school Known for: Acting
  • star Popularity: 4.4
  • info Birth Place Calumet, Michigan, USA
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smart_display Movies and TV shows by James Tolkan

8.4

Back to the Future

1985-07-03

7.8

Back to the Future Part II

1989-11-22

7.5

Back to the Future Part III

1990-05-25

7.1

WarGames

1983-06-03

7.1

Val

2021-07-23

7.1

Top Gun

1986-05-16

5.7

Family Business

1989-12-06

5

Boiling Point

1993-04-16

5.7

Opportunity Knocks

1990-03-30

5.7

Masters of the Universe

1987-08-07

6.2

Iceman

1984-04-13

6.7

Made in Heaven

1987-11-06

7.4

Heavens Fall

2006-07-20

5.9

Problem Child 2

1991-07-03

4.9

Off Beat

1986-04-10

6.2

7 Times Lucky

2004-01-17

5.3

Bloodfist IV: Die Trying

1992-11-18

6.4

Little Spies

1986-10-05

5.1

Split Decisions

1988-06-11

5.5

True Blood

1989-04-28

5.7

Phil Spector

2013-06-14

8

Looking Back to the Future

2009-02-10

6.3

The Case of the Hillside Stranglers

1989-04-02

7.6

Love and Death

1975-06-10

6.9

They Might Be Giants

1971-06-09

4.2

Hangfire

1991-01-11

6.3

The Amityville Horror

1979-07-27

5.6

Armed and Dangerous

1986-08-15

5.3

Robo Warriors

1997-01-15

5.8

Turk 182!

1985-02-15

4.4

Second Sight

1989-11-03

2

Weekend War

1988-02-01

7.5

Serpico

1973-12-18

3.7

Driving Me Crazy

1991-05-16

7

Prince of the City

1981-08-19

3.3

Viper

1988-01-01

6.2

The River

1984-12-01

6

Sketch Artist II: Hands That See

1995-01-28

6.9

Bone Tomahawk

2015-10-23

5.2

Underworld

1996-06-01

5.4

Hanky Panky

1982-06-04

6.2

Dick Tracy

1990-04-05

6.6

Back in Time

2015-10-20

3

Ministry of Vengeance

1989-11-03

0

Flanagan

1985-10-30

0

The Three Sisters

1966-01-01

7.4

Tales from the Future

2010-10-26

5.9

Wolfen

1981-07-24

7.3

The Friends of Eddie Coyle

1973-06-26

0

Question of Faith

1988-10-06

5.9

Author! Author!

1982-06-18

5.5

Sketch Artist

1992-04-26

5.3

Stiletto

1969-07-30

3.9

The Werewolf of Washington

1973-10-01

7.1

Remington Steele

1982-10-01

8

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

1990-09-10

7.4

The Pretender

1996-09-19

7.3

Early Edition

1996-09-28

5.3

Naked City

1958-09-30

7.6

Hill Street Blues

1981-01-15

6.7

Cobra

1993-09-16

7.2

The Equalizer

1985-09-18

8.4

The Wonder Years

1988-01-31

5

Mary

1985-12-11

6.8

The Hat Squad

1992-09-16

7.5

Nowhere Man

1995-08-28

7.8

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

2001-04-22

7.8

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

2001-04-22

7.8

A Nero Wolfe Mystery

2001-04-22

7.6

Leverage

2008-12-07

8

Tales from the Crypt

1989-06-10

7.5

Miami Vice

1984-09-16

7.6

The Wonderful World of Disney

1954-10-27

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