The Actor Who Played Strickland in 'Back to the Future Just Died' — and What He Said About Michael J. Fox is Heartbreaking
James Tolkan, the character actor best known for playing the perpetually exasperated Principal Strickland in the Back to the Future trilogy, has died at 94. And in one of his final interviews, he left behind something worth remembering — a few quiet words about Michael J. Fox that hit differently now.
James Tolkan Said He 'Suffered Through Acting'
In an interview with Impulse Gamer, Tolkan said of Fox, "It was very impressive, his demeanour on the set and the ease in which he went into his characters."
"I always suffered through acting. He made it look so easy and so simple. And now of course when you see him how he is, it's quite sad."
Tolkan spent the majority of his career in theatre before Robert Zemeckis came calling for Back to the Future in 1985. He'd never heard of Zemeckis at the time — the director cast him based on a performance in Prince of the City, a little-seen film about police corruption in which Tolkan played a district attorney. "I didn't know who Robert Zemeckis was then," he said. "But I thought, OK, this is my chance to go to Hollywood."
As Gerald Strickland — the snarling, "slacker"-screaming disciplinarian who haunts both 1985 and 1955 Hill Valley — Tolkan created a character who became as much a part of the trilogy's fabric as the DeLorean itself. Fans never forgot him. "They say 'Slacker!' or something like that," he said with amusement when asked what people called out to him on the street.
@sshadoww05 slacker #backtothefuture #slacker #slackermcfly #youreaslacker #fyp #michealjfox
♬ original sound - That Guy Ryan
James Tolkan Said 'Back to the Future' Was the Most Fun He Had Doing a Movie
He reprised the role in all three films, and described the shoot as "the most fun I've ever had doing a movie." When asked about a potential fourth installment, his answer was characteristically direct. "How could it possibly happen," he said. "One, two, and three were so special you just couldn't go back."
Tolkan is also remembered for roles in Top Gun and Masters of the Universe, though it was Strickland — the man who called Marty McFly a slacker before anyone knew what he was capable of — that defined his legacy.