James Tolkan, the veteran character actor best known for calling out “slackers” in the Back to the Future films and barking orders in Top Gun, has died. He was 94.
Tolkan passed away Thursday in Saranac Lake, New York, according to a family spokesperson.
A familiar face across film, television, and stage, Tolkan built a career playing tightly wound authority figures and intimidating figures you definitely didn’t want to cross — and somehow made them endlessly watchable.
He memorably pulled double duty in Love and Death as both Napoleon and his look-alike, and later showed up as the shady accountant Numbers working for Big Boy Caprice (Al Pacino) in Dick Tracy.
Tolkan also became a regular collaborator with Sidney Lumet, appearing in three of the director’s films: as a cop in Serpico, a driven D.A. in Prince of the City, and a judge in Family Business.
On Broadway, he originated
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