James Tolkan, the venerable character actor who played disciplinarian principal Mr. Strickland in Back to the Future and Tom Cruise’s commander in Top Gun, died at 94. A family spokesperson said Tolkan died on Thursday in Saranac Lake, New York. After serving in the Navy during the Korean War, Tolkan earned a degree in drama from the University of Iowa in 1956. His first television role came four years later in the police drama Naked City, with later TV roles including Remington Steele, Miami Vice, and The Wonder Years. While Tolkan’s film credits include Woody Allen’s Love and Death and Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy, he was perhaps best known for portraying slacker-hating Hill Valley High School principal Mr. Strickland in Back to the Future and its 1989 sequel. In Back to the Future Part III, Tolkan portrayed Strickland’s grandfather. In between the first two entries in the Back to the Future franchise, Tolkan played Tom “Stinger” Jardian, the aircraft carrier commanding officer who dresses down Tom Cruise’s character for his aggressive fighter pilot maneuvers. Michael J. Fox, Marty McFly in Back to the Future, remembered Tolkan in an Instagram post: “RIP to the great James Tolkan. You were definitely no slacker. Grateful to know you, act with you, and direct you in Tales from the Crypt. I’ll miss you pal.”
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