Glad you enjoyed part 1 of our casting discussion, or if you’re here without reading part 1. I’d recommend you scroll to the bottom of this page and have a read of that first.
So anyway part 2… as said previously this blog is going to cover the likes of characters such as: Strickland, Biff’s Gang & the McFly siblings. So why sit here wasting time? Let’s get started…
The casting of this first character came quite straight forward, like with Marty McFly, Zemeckis and Gale we’re certain from the start who they wanted to play Mr Strickland. This man was James Tolkan, who up to this point had never been to Hollywood, and reportedly wouldn’t until he was given the perfect movie opportunity. To him, Back to the Future deemed to be this perfect opportunity. Tolkan accepted the offer and was Mr Strickland, a role he did justice to.
Likewise, the crew on Back to the Future never considered any actors (except the chosen ones) to play the siblings of Marty McFly. One of these Siblings was Dave McFly. Dave was the firstborn of George and Lorraine, thus being the first of 3 of them to disappear from the picture. In the 1985 we see at the beginning of the film, Dave is scruffy looking and works at a fast food restaurant. After Marty goes back and changes history, Dave is much smarter and from what we know, now has an office job. The actor Zemeckis and Gale saw as Dave McFly was Marc McClure, who went on to star as him in the film.
The other McFly sibling was Linda McFly. Linda, like Dave appears smarter, politer, better dressed and in a better place with relationships in the alternate 1985 Marty created compared with the 1985 we see her in at the beginning of the film. Just like the part of Dave, no other actress apart from Wendie Jo Sperber was considered to play Linda, with Wendie ultimately owning the part.
Mayor Goldie Wilson is next on my list. We see Mayor Goldie Wilson’s campaign to be made mayor again near the beginning of the film. You likely remember the words “Re-elect Mayor Goldie Wilson, progress is his middle name”. We also see Mayor Goldie Wilson in Lou’s cafe shortly after Marty arrives in 1955. You probably remember his memorable “mayor” line. (If you just read that in a Goldie Wilson voice, your a true BTTF fan!) We also see Mayor Goldie Wilson III briefly on a projected display in 2015 (Part 2), we can assume that this is Goldie Wilson’s grandson. Ultimately, it was Donald “Don” Fullilove (who also voiced Michael Jackson as a child) who had the honour to play Goldie. And he owned the part.
Another character of importance in Back to the Future is Marvin Berry. Marvin Berry is the lead signer of Marvin Berry & The Starlighters. He is also the fictional cousin of American signer-songwriter Chuck Berry. Without Marvin Berry’s earth angel (as well as Marty’s guitar playing) would Lorraine and George ever have kissed at The Enchantment Under the Sea Dance? Possibly not. This could’ve lead to Marty’s disappearance as he ceased to exist. Harry Waters Jr was the man who portrayed this role. So really, without Harry Waters Jr, Marty McFly would have been erased from existence.
Harry Walters Jr also had the honour to deliver the iconic call to his “cousin” Chuck Berry. Did you know that scene was actually done in 1 take?
The next character is someone who I feel is possibly one of the most important characters in the whole trilogy. I mean if it wasn’t for her interruption, Marty would have been stuck in 1955. Can you guess who I’m talking about? That’s right! It’s the famous unnamed Clock Tower Lady. Without here interference, Marty never would never had been able to tell the 1955 Doc the news from the future of when the famous clock tower would be struck by lightning. He’d have been stranded in 1955, and would have been 47 by the time 1985 finally rolled around. Do you reckon he’d have still got together with Jennifer? Now that would have messed with the space time continuum! (And been slightly inappropriate!)
Anyway, the helpful clock tower lady did interrupt Marty & Jennifer’s kiss, meaning Marty had information on the past in his hand, that unbeknownst to him, would soon become future news and come into massive use.
One a side note, if Marty hadn’t have had this information on the future, do you think Doc still would’ve found a way to return his friend to 1955? I like to think Doc could’ve found a way either through explosives or recreating the time machine (we know this is possible because he did it in the old west). That’s for a whole separate blog in the future though. Back to casting now.
The lady who portrayed the unarmed Clock Tower Lady was American actress Elsa Raven, who later went on to star alongside a fellow Back to the Future cast member in Titanic in 1997.
Quite a few casual fans are unaware that Huey Lewis didn’t just write 2 hits for Back to the Future ( The Power of Love & Back in Time) he also made a cameo appearance as one of Marty’s teachers, judging him in the high school band auditions. You’ll probably remember his famous “I’m afraid you’re just to darn loud” to Marty and his band mates (The Pinheads) when they attempted to impress the judges with their own cover of The Power of Love (by Huey Lewis & the News).
When first approached with the role, Lewis was hesitant to act in a film despite being convinced he would be disguised and made unrecognisable. Thankfully, Huey Lewis did in the end change his mind and take up the opportunity to own this iconic role. In fact, his disguise was so good, many Back to the Future fans when the film originally came out didn’t see through it. Since then Lewis went on to have a small acting career, but his role on Back to the Future will always be his acting debut, and his most iconic role.
Did you know Zemeckis and Gale intended Marty’s favourite band to be Huey Lewis & the News? This being one of the reasons Lewis was asked to write a songs for the film, and later star in it.
Another group of admittedly less iconic characters includes Biff’s gang which is made of 3 fictional characters: 3-D (the one with the 3D glasses), Skinhead (shorter hair, makes the life preserver pun) and Match (the other one, not sure exactly how to define him).
A normal casting process went forward for the 3 characters. In the end the parts went as followed:
- Skinhead – Jeffrey “J.J” Cohen (actor was also considered for the role of Biff).
- 3-D – Casey Siemaszko (went on to star in Stand By Me a year later).
- Match – Billy Zane (went on to have a leading role in Titanic).
The most memorable line ever delivered by one of Biff’s gang members arguably came from Skinhead (J.J Cohen) in Lou’s cafe shortly after Marty arrived in 1955, where he made the famous life jacket/ life preserver pun: “Hey Biff get a hold of this guys life preserver, dork thinks he’s going to drown”.
The only other well know Back to the Future parts that haven’t been touched in either of the 2 parts yet are that of Einstein (Doc’s dog in 1985, named after Albert Einstein) and Copernicus (Doc’s dog in 1955, named after Nicolaus Copernicus) both unsurprisingly named after scientists. Einstein heroically became the world’s first time traveller at the beginning of the film. Einstein was reportedly played by a dog named Tiger. His exact breed is unknown but it is suggested he is mixed breed or a breed of sheepdog. In part 2 (and possibly part 3) Tiger went on to be replaced (presumably to old for the part) and was played by a dog named Freddie.
The dog who played Copernicus in the first film has never been identified, as he’s only in the film for a few seconds and is never referred to by his fictional name. We do know thought that a dog named Foster played him in Part 3. Copernicus’ specific breed is also unknown but believed to be either mixed race or a terrier breed.
There are of course still cast members from the original film that I haven’t been able to include. So I thought it would be nice to just end this blog by going over all the actors (and their roles) in the film, including actors we’ve already covered.
- Marty McFly – Michael J. Fox
- Doc Brown – Christopher Lloyd
- Lorraine Baines McFly – Lea Thompson
- George McFly – Crispin Glover
- Biff Tannen – Thomas F. Wilson
- Jennifer Parker – Claudia Wells
- James Tolkan – Mr Strickland
- Dave McFly – Marc McClure
- Linda McFly – Wendie Jo Sperber
- Mayor Goldie Wilson – Donald Fullilove
- Marvin Berry – Harry Waters Jr
- Clock Tower Lady – Elsa Raven
- High School Audition Judge – Huey Lewis
- 3-D – Casey Siemaszko
- Skinhead – J.J Cohen
- Match – Billy Zane
- Einstein – Tiger
- Copernicus – Unknown
- Sam Baines – George DiCenzo
- Stella Baines – Frances Lee McCain
- Sally Baines – Maia Brewton
- Milton Baines – Jason Hervey
- Red/Fred the Bum – George Buck Flower
- Sherman Peabody – Jason Marin
- Pa Peabody – Will Hare
- Ma Peabody – Ivy Bethune
- Daughter Peabody – Katherine Britton
- Babs – Lisa Freeman
- Betty – Cristen Kauffman
- Lou – Norman Alden
- Dixon – Courtney Gains
Again, I hope you enjoyed part 2 of the casting, and were able to learn something new. Again I’d also like to credit the writings of Michael Klastorin in Back to the Future: the Ultimate Visual History, as this is where some of this information was inspired form.
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I hope you can join us for our next blog which I can confirm will definitely be up within the next 48 hours, where we will be discussing a common Back to the Future fan favourite theory: Should old Marty really be alive in 2015? So until then, see you soon!
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