BACK to the Future and Top Gun actor James Tolkan has sadly died aged 94.
The Hollywood star passed away peacefully at his New York state home on Thursday after a celebrated TV and stage career spanning 55 years.
His death was announced on the Back to the Future website as well as by writer-producer Bob Gale, but a cause was not provided.
Tolkan played the slacker-hating teacher Mr. Strickland in the first two films of the iconic 80s franchise, returning as the grandfather of his character in the third.
He was also known for his performance as air group commanding officer “Stinger” Jardian in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, alongside stars Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer and Meg Ryan.
Tolkan’s five-decade-long career started in the 1960s series Naked City and called it a day after the 2015 film Bone Tomahawk.
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He was born on June 20, 1931 in Calumet, Michigan and served in the brutal Korean War as part of the United States Navy.
The young sailor was discharged due to a heart condition and set his sights on becoming an actor, earning a BA in drama from the University of Iowa.
An obituary on the Back to the Future website says that he then “got on a bus for New York City with $75 in his pocket, went to work on the docks and enrolled with both Stella Adler and Lee Strasburg to learn the art of acting.
“He spent 25 years in New York theater, from off off Broadway to the great White Way.
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“Notably, he was a member of the original ensemble cast of the ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’.”
Tolkan moved his career from New York to California and Canada in 1983 when he was cast in War Games.
After his roles in Back to the Future and Top Gun, Tolkan had a dual role in Woody Allen’s Love and Death.
Tolkan’s final two roles came in the 2013 film Phil Spector, where he played a judge in the disgraced Wall of Sound producer’s murder trial, and as pianist in Bone Tomahawk.
Tolkan is survived by his wife of 54 years, Parmelee – whom he met while on the set of the off-Broadway play Pinkville in 1971 – and his three nieces in Des Moines, Iowa.
The late actor adored animals and the obituary asked for donations in his memory to your local animal shelter, animal rescue organisation or Humane Society chapter.
It comes as another Back to the Future star, Matt Clark, died earlier this month after suffering complications from back surgery.
The actor passed away in his Austin, Texas home aged 89.
The TV star’s family said, “he died the way he lived, on his terms,” according to TMZ, which first reported the story.
Matt underwent surgery after breaking his back months earlier, his daughter Amiee Clark reportedly told The Hollywood Reporter.
“He built his own house with his own hands,” Matt’s family said in a statement following his death.
“He kept his closest friendships for sixty years. He showed up for the work, and for his people, every time. He was complex. He was tough. He could be gruff.
“But the moral compass never wavered, and the love was never in doubt. You could see it — in his eyes, in his performances, in the family he loved to keep together. He lived. He lives, forever.”