'Top Gun' and 'Back to the Future' Actor James Tolkan Dies at 94
James Tolkan, the character actor who appeared in iconic films like Back to the Future trilogy and Top Gun, has peacefully passed away on Thursday in Saranac Lake, New York. He was 94.
Tolkan played the infamous Gerald Strickland in the Back to the Future films, the Hill Valley High School principal. He reprised his role in the 1989 sequel and later returned as James Strickland, Strickland's ancestor, in Back to the Future Part III. In the following year, he played Commander Tom "Stinger" Jardian in Top Gun, the antagonistic commanding officer who often argued with Pete "Maverick" Mitchell before coming around to him.
Tolkan always considered himself an east side actor. “I’m really just a New York actor. I’m a stage actor. And I said I was never going to Hollywood until Hollywood sends for me,” he told Media Mikes.
That call did come in 1984, when Robert Zemeckis asked him to be in Back to the Future. “Of course, nobody knew who Robert Zemeckis was back then, but I said “ok” because this was my chance to go to Hollywood. So, after a year on Broadway, I went to Hollywood and did the movie. I stayed in California and did some television series. Then I did “Top Gun” and all of a sudden I’m a Hollywood actor!”
Tolkan continued working in film and television for more than five decades, and he had over 100 film and television credits. He worked with a plethora of directors, including Sidney Lumet in Serpico and Prince of the City, Woody Allen in Love and Death, and Warren Beatty in Dick Tracy. He continued to act until 2015 and made documentary appearances up until 2024, including a return to the Back to the Future universe for the 2021 documentary Expedition: Back to the Future.
Tolkan is survived by his wife, Parmelee Welles, whom he married in 1971. The two met while she was working at the American Place Theater in New York.
James adored animals, and his family kindly asks that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made in his memory to a local animal shelter, animal rescue organization, or Humane Society chapter.