James Tolkan, the actor best known as the strict vice principal Gerald Strickland in the “Back to the Future” franchise and as no-nonsense “Top Gun” commander Stinger, has died. He was 94.
“The news is sadly true about James,” John Alcantar, Tolkan’s representative for public appearances, confirms to USA TODAY. “James was a beloved professional who lived a good, full life.”
No cause of death was given.
Tolkan’s most famous role started with 1985’s “Back to the Future” as Strickland, the Hill Valley High School vice principal who refers to Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), his father (Crispin Glover), and school bully Biff Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson) as “slackers.”
“You’ve got a real attitude problem, McFly, you’re a slacker,” Strickland says to McFly in the school hallway. “You remind me of your father when he went here. He was a slacker too.”
James Tolkan attends the “Back To The Future: The Musical” gala performance at Winter Garden Theatre on July 25, 2023, in New York City.
Tolkan reprised the role in the 1989 sequel “Back to the Future Part II.” In 1990, Tolkan went into the past to play Strickland’s grandfather, Chief Marshal James Strickland, in sci-fi Western “Back to the Future Part III.”
Beyond the time-travel movie trilogy, Tolkan memorably portrayed hard-nosed authority figures in films such as 1986’s “Top Gun,” where he played the stern naval commander Stinger opposite Tom Cruise’s hotshot pilot Maverick.
The cigar-loving Stinger dresses down Maverick in one scene with the immortal line, “Your ego is writing checks your body can’t cash.”
In the 1983 film “WarGames” the actor starred as a Pentagon official.
Tolkan also showed his range playing Napoleon and his look-alike in 1975’s “Love and Death,” director Woody Allen’s offbeat historical satire. He later appeared in “Dick Tracy” as Numbers, the crooked accountant working for mob boss Alphonse “Big Boy” Caprice (Al Pacino).
A frequent collaborator of Sidney Lumet, Tolkan worked with the acclaimed filmmaker on three films: a police officer in “Serpico” (also starring Pacino), a determined district attorney in “Prince of the City,” and a judge in “Family Business.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: James Tolkan, ‘Back to the Future’ ‘Top Gun’ star, dies at 94