According to the Back to Future franchise website, James Tolkan, the actor who played Top Gun, has passed away. According to reports, the star died on Thursday, March 26, at Saranac Lake, New York. The announcement was made by both his family’s representative and writer-producer Bob Gale.
He is said to have died peacefully at the age of 94. Tolkan’s acting career spanned five decades, and he was beloved by many. His family shared his story in a statement, describing how he was born in Michigan in 1931 but ended up cycling “through Chicago after his parents divorced and wound up in Tucson, Arizona, where he graduated [from] Amphitheatre High School in 1949.”
He appeared in a number of noteworthy parts during his 25-year career in New York theatre, including his Broadway debut. Including roles in Serpico with Al Pacino in 1973, Prince of the City in 1981, and as a judge in Family Business in 1989. He played Napoleon and his doppelganger in Woody Allen’s Love and Death, Numbers in Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy, and a variety of other roles. However, his most notable acting performance to date was in Back to the Future in 1985, where he played Mr. Strickland, the rigorous high school vice principle.
He returned to repeat his part in the film’s sequels. His other well-known performances include CO Stinger (Commander Tom Jardian) in Tom Cruise’s Top Gun. James Tolkan leaves behind his wife of 54 years, Parmelee, whom he met on the production of the Broadway comedy Pinkville in 1971, as well as three nieces in Des Moines, Iowa. In honour of the great actor, they have requested donations to local animal rescue and shelters in his memory.
