Thomas F. Wilson (original) (raw)

Thomas Frances Wilson (born April 15, 1959) is an American actor born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied international politics at Arizona State University.

While in high-school, Radnor High, he was involved in dramatic arts, president of the debate team and tuba player in the high-school band. Wilson's first 'real' stage experiences were as a standup comedian, while studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

His breakthrough is considered to be: 'Back to the Future' (1985) (which later got the sub-title: part one, when the movie became a trilogy). In that movie he played the menace to society: Biff Tannen. A role that fit him like a pair of gloves. His talents as a comedian and a gifted actor made Biff the character people loved to hate. When the BttF became a trilogy, he was naturally asked to perform in these sequels too as Biff, Biff's grandon Griff and the great,great grandfather Buford 'Mad Dog' Tannen.

He later went to co-star in a CD-ROM computer game, with Mark Hamill. This game called: Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger (1994), would later on be part of "The Wing Commander Series". It was extremely popular at the time. In the game Wilson played Major Todd "Maniac" Marshall, one of the pilots of a starship under fire. In this game his character, again, is a generic pain in the butt to the people around him. He also starred in the sequel to that game "Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom", which was even hailed more then it's predecessor and is still considered an all time classic game for the PC.

Right now Thomas F. Wilson is mostly involved in 'lending' his voice to animated productions such as Disney's: "Atlantis: Milo's Return" (2003). Most recently Wilson appeared on the screen in a movie called: Trial and Error: The Making of Sequestered (2003), a mock-u-mentary.