Top Gun actor James Tolkan is no more, a note on the Back to the Future franchise’s website has confirmed. It turns out the star was in Saranac Lake, NY, when he passed away on Thursday, March 26. This was announced by a spokesperson for his family as well as writer-producer Bob Gale. It is said that he died peacefully at the age of 94.
With an acting career spanning over five decades, Tolkan is loved by many. His journey was shared through a note from his family, and read how he was originally born in Michigan in 1931 but ended up cycling "After his parents divorced, he moved to Tucson, Arizona, via Chicago, where he graduated from Amphitheater High School in 1949.
About James Tolkan
After spending 25 years in New York theatre, including her Broadway debut, she was seen in an impressive array of roles. Including roles as 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 look-alike in Woody Allen’s Love and Death, as Numbers in Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy, and many other roles.
However, his most notable acting contribution to date is in 1985’s Back to the Future, where he played the strict high school vice principal Mr. Strickland. He returned to reprise his role in the film’s follow-up projects. Another of his famous roles is that of CO Stinger (Commander Tom Jardiance) in Tom Cruise’s Top Gun.
James Tolkan is survived by his wife of 54 years, Parmelee, whom he met on the set of the Broadway play Pinkville in 1971, and three nieces in Des Moines, Iowa. Honoring the legendary actor, they have asked for donations to local animal rescue sites and shelters in his memory.
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