- Attended the University of Iowa, Coe College and Eastern Arizona College (EAC).
- Studied with Stella Adler in New York and was an understudy to Robert Duvall in the 1965 production of Arthur Miller's "A View from the Bridge".
- His paternal grandparents, Anna and Harry Tolkan, were Russian Jewish immigrants. His maternal grandparents, Sofia and Alexander Silvola, were Finnish.
- Standard character actor who has reliably played in urban films as both good guys (policemen, attorneys) and bad guys (mobsters).
- He has appeared in two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant": Back to the Future (1985) and Top Gun (1986).
- Currently resides in Lake Placid, New York. (March 2010)
- Best known by the public for his roles as strict high school principal Gerard Strickland in Back to the Future (1985) and Back to the Future Part II (1989), and his grandfather Chief Marshall James Strickland in Back to the Future Part III (1990).
- Born on the same date as Oscar-winner Olympia Dukakis.
- Has3 children.
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