From gangs to the Navy and then to acting, James Tolkan saw it all

United States Navy veteran James Tolkan is a veteran actor of stage, screen, and television. He spent his career playing the hard man.

Audiences know him for his roles in “Back to the Future,” “Top Gun,” and “Problem Child 2.” Tolkan appeared in many other films and TV shows. His normally no-nonsense characters seem to come from an organic place within Tolkan. The characters are tough but fair, and have a sense of dignity in them.

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Tolkan spent a lot of his time on stage in New York City before moving to Hollywood. Most recently, Tolkan worked on the Discovery Channel show “Expedition: Back to the Future.” We Are The Mighty sat down with Tolkan to learn more about his life, his time in service, and what made him become an actor.

Tolkan’s youth was “very difficult,” with his father having spent a lot of time in jail. Tolkan lived in Michigan before his family moved to Chicago. After his parents split when he was 14 years old, Tolkan lived alone in a basement.

“I got up at 5 in the morning to clean a restaurant,” he said. “I was very unhappy. I was running with a gang and quit school at 15. I lied about my age and got a job with the Chicago Northwestern Railroad with a pick and shovel, which I hated.”

His family moved to Tucson, Arizona, the next year, and his whole life changed for the better.

His Time in the Navy

Tolkan was on a football scholarship at Eastern Arizona College and he got to play a lot of football. He put his name on a list to join the Navy—it was during the Korean War—and Tolkan was competing as an undefeated boxer in the Golden Gloves when he got the call. Tolkan completed boot camp in San Diego.

“When I went into the Navy, I was in better shape going into boot camp than at the end,” Tolkan said.

He volunteered for boxing while in the Navy, and after his fellow sailors saw him in the ring, he never stood a “midwatch” (midnight to 4 a.m. shift) again. Tolkan explained with a laugh, “I was treated royally.”

Tolkan signed up for four years in the Navy, and he ran a chow line in San Diego for troops in training. He then set to sail with the USS Sandoval APA-194. While preparing for ship duty, Tolkan came down with a severe, unknown illness , and he went to the Oakland Naval Hospital in California. The Navy found an issue with his heart, and within a year, officials discharged him from the service for medical reasons.

“I could have seen the Navy as a career until I got sick….,” Tolkan said. “Anyway, it all worked out.”

After his time in the Navy, Tolkan said he floundered around. He reconnected with his father after not seeing him in seven years. Tolkan spent time in Iowa, driving a cattle truck and moving cows all over the country.

“I didn’t know what to do with myself,” Tolkan said. “I was very lost.”

Discovering a Love of Acting

He went back to school on the GI Bill at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Tolkan majored in art and minored in music, which inspired his interest in acting. He spent two years at Coe and then transferred to the University of Iowa for its large theater department. Tolkan was the big man in the theater department there.

After six years in college, Tolkan got on a Greyhound bus with $75 in his pocket to go to New York to be an actor.

“I was scared to death and didn’t know what I was getting into, but I did it,” Tolkan said. “It was really terrific. You have to learn to just really go for it.

“I am most happy working in the theater. That is where I am most comfortable. The last play I did on Broadway was David Mamet’s ‘Glengarry Glen Ross.’” In his first Broadway play, Tolkan played a killer opposite actress Lee Remick in “Wait Until Dark.” The play ran for two years.

“As a New York actor, I said, ‘I am never going to Hollywood till they send for me,’” Tolkan said. “And when Robert Zemeckis called me to do ‘Back to the Future,’ I said, ‘OK, this is my chance to go out there and see what’s going on.’ So I went out and did ‘Back to the Future’ and ‘Top Gun,’ and I stayed out there for 10 years.”

Working with Lumet

Tolkan said he didn’t particularly like working in the movies.

“With ‘Back to the Future,’ it was a very small movie—nobody knew it was going to be an enormous thing—but with ‘Top Gun,’ we all knew it was going to be big all the way through,” he said. “So I was very confident in ‘Top Gun,’ where ‘Back to the Future’ was a huge surprise.”

Tolkan did three movies with director Sidney Lumet: “Serpico,” “Prince of the City,” and “Family Business.”

“He was so disciplined, so brilliant…,” Tolkan said of Lumet. “To work with him was a privilege. He made it a pleasure.”

He describes his experience with director Tony Scott on “Top Gun” as loose when compared to working with Lumet. Scott had the actors do improv scenes, not on the board for the day. He enjoyed working with Scott, though.

“Tom Cruise was most impressive,” Tolkan said. “I knew he was going to be great right from the beginning.”

Tolkan talks of his time on “Back to the Future.”

“Michael J. Fox is the easiest actor I have ever worked with,” Tolkan said. “He is so talented and loose. That movie is still going strong, [and that] was 35 years ago.”

Tolkan’s filmography is impressive. But when asked what he’s most proud of, his answer is fairly simple.

“The fact that I made it through,” he said. “That I am here living the good life and I survived. That is what I am most proud of. It is not easy.… I give thanks every day.”

Tolkan died on March 26, 2026, at the age of 94.