THOMAS F. WILSON

'Thomas Francis Wilson, Jr.' (born April 15, 1959) is an American character actor, comedian, writer, musician, painter, and voice-over artist. He is also a born-again Christian. He studied international politics at Arizona State University. He is best known for playing Biff Tannen in the ''Back to the Future trilogy''.

Contents

Biography

1990s

2000s

Painting

Selected Filmography

External links

Biography

Wilson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While attending Radnor High School, he was involved in dramatic arts, president of the debate team, and tuba player in the high school band. Wilson's first 'real' stage experience was as a standup comedian while studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He is a contributor to the ''Bob and Tom Show'' and is part of their comedy tour.
His breakthrough role was as a bully named Biff Tannen in the movie ''Back to the Future'' (1985). Wilson's talents as a comedian and an actor combined to make Biff a character people loved to hate. When ''Back to the Future'' became a trilogy, he was naturally asked to perform in these sequels again as Biff's grandson Griff and Biff's great-grandfather Buford 'Mad Dog' Tannen. He reprised his role as Biff and voiced various Tannen relatives in the franchise's animated series.

1990s

In 1992 he voiced gangster Tony Zucco in the critically acclaimed . He later went to co-star in a CD-ROM computer game with Mark Hamill titled: '' (1994). It was the third chapter in the ''Wing Commander'' series and was extremely popular at the time. The game character played by Wilson is Major Todd "Maniac" Marshall, a fellow starfighter pilot of Hamill's character. Much like Biff from ''Back to the Future'' "Maniac" Marshall shares a very common unpopularity. Wilson also starred in the following ''Wing Commander'' games '' (1996), which was hailed even more than its predecessor and is considered by some to be a classic computer game, and '' (1997). Wilson played McKinley High School's Coach Ben Fredricks in the 1999-2000 NBC Comedy-drama ''Freaks and Geeks''; Fredricks dated Bill Haverchuck's mother.

2000s

In 2003, Wilson appeared on the screen in a mockumentary movie called ''.
Wilson has often lent his voice to animated productions such as '' (1993), ''The New Batman Adventures'' (1998), Disney's '' (2003), and ''The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie'' (2004). As well as the animated roles, he has continued to voice characters in computer and video games. His latest roles are supporting characters in the film '' and on the TV drama ''Ghost Whisperer''.
In 2004, Wilson played the role of Noah Curry in the Pasadena Playhouse production of the musical 110 in the Shade, also starring Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley. In 2005, Wilson released his comedy album entitled ''Tom Wilson Is Funny!''
Wilson has transitioned into a career as a comic and musician and has recorded a song called "Biff's Question Song".

Painting

Wilson is also an accomplished painter. In 2006, he was selected to join the California Featured Artist Series at Disneyland.

Selected Filmography

★ ''Zoom'' (2006) as Dylan's Teacher

★ ''Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector'' (2006) - Bart Tatlock

★ ''The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie'' (2004) (Voice) - Fish #3/Tough Fish #1, Victor

★ '' (2003) (Voice) - Carnaby

★ ''Men in White'' (1998) - Ed Klingbottom

★ ''Girl'' (1998) - The Ticket Seller

★ ''That Darn Cat'' (1997) - Cop Melvin

★ ''Andersonville'' (1996) - Thomas Sweet

★ ''Born to Be Wild'' (1995) - Det. Lou Greenburg

★ ''High Strung'' (1994) -

★ ''Camp Nowhere'' (1994) - Lt. Eliot Hendricks

★ ''Caroline at Midnight'' (1994) - Officer Keaton

★ '' (1993) - Rollie McCann

★ ''Back to the Future Part III'' (1990) - Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen/Biff Tannen

★ ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989) - Biff Tannen/Griff Tannen

★ ''Action Jackson'' (1988) - Officer Kornblau

★ ''Let's Get Harry'' (1986) - Bob Pachowski

★ ''April Fool's Day'' (1986) - Arch Cummings

★ ''Back to the Future'' (1985) - Biff Tannen

External links

★ Tom Wilson's Official Site

★ Tom Wilson's Big Pop Fun

★ Tom Wilson's Official Blog

★ Tom Wilson's MySpace

★ 'Biff's Question Song' on YouTube.com

★

★ Scene Missing Magazine Interview With Tom Wilson