Over 40 years after its release, Back to the Future remains beloved by fans for many reasons, including incredibly memorable scenes and quotes. Of course, the BTTF cast is collectively one of the major reasons Robert Zemeckis’ 1985 time travel romp (and its two sequels) work so well. Among that ensemble was James Tolkan, who played Principal Strickland (and his ancestor) in the films. Sadly, Tolkan just died at 94 and, now, co-stars like Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd are honoring him.
Tolkan died in New York on Thursday, March 26 in New York. A character actor with various roles under his belt, Tolkan arguably cemented his position within pop culture through his role as Strickland. The character served as the disciplinarian at High Valley High School, both during the 1985 and 1955 eras. After Tolkan’s death, Fox posted to his Instagram stories, sharing a side-by-side featuring still showing their two BTTF characters and a shot of the two actors recreating that moment from the film. Fox also penned an A+ message:
