James Tolkan

James Stewart Tolkan (born June 20, 1931) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Mr. Strickland in Back to the Future (1985) and Back to the Future Part II (1989), and as Marshal Strickland in Back to the Future Part III (1990). Other memorable film roles include Love and Death (1975), Top Gun (1986), Masters of the Universe (1987) and Dick Tracy (1990). Early life Tolkan was born in Calumet, Michigan, the son of Dale Nichols and Ralph M. Tolkan, a cattle dealer. He attended the University of Iowa, Coe College, the Actors Studio and Eastern Arizona College. Tolkan served in the U.S. Navy onboard the USS Sandoval, but he had an issue with his heart; within a year, he was discharged for medical reasons. Career Tolkan is known for his role in the 1985 film Back to the Future as the strict Hill Valley High School principal, Gerald Strickland; the character refers to Marty McFly, his father, and Biff Tannen derisively as "slackers". He reprised the role in the 1989 sequel Back to the Future Part II, in which unnamed gang members make a drive-by assault on him in a dystopian 1985; he also refers to these criminals as "slackers" as he shoots back. In 1990, he played the part of Mr. Strickland's grandfather Chief Marshal James Strickland in Back to the Future Part III. James Tolkan would again reprise his role as Strickland, and the character's ancestors and descendants, in the 1991 animated series spin-off.