"What are you lookin' at, butthead?!"
When I'm flyin' in a plane or I'm on the street
There's a lot of friendly people that I like to meet
They shake my hand but never ask my name
And they start asking questions that are always the same
"Hey, what's Michael J. Fox like?" He's nice
"What's Christopher Lloyd like?" Kinda quiet
"What's Crispin Glover like?" ... Unusual?
Stop askin' me the question.
There's a lot of friendly people that I like to meet
They shake my hand but never ask my name
And they start asking questions that are always the same
"Hey, what's Michael J. Fox like?" He's nice
"What's Christopher Lloyd like?" Kinda quiet
"What's Crispin Glover like?" ... Unusual?
Stop askin' me the question.
Thomas Francis Wilson Jr. (born April 15, 1959 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American actor, voice artist, musician, writer and painter.
Biff Tannen, the bully of the McFly family and archenemy of Marty McFly in Back to the Future, is his most famous role. He's had a hefty voice acting career since, notably voicing several characters in the DC Animated Universe and in Disney animated series.
Notable credits:
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Film roles
- Ninja Turf (1985) - Member of Spike's Gang
- Back to the Future
- Back to the Future (1985): Biff Tannen
- Back to the Future Part II (1989): Biff Tannen, Griff Tannen
- Back to the Future Part III (1990): Buford Tannen, Biff Tannen
- April Fools' Day (1986): Arch
- Let's Get Harry (1986): Bob Pachowski
- Action Jackson (1988): Officer Kornblau
- Camp Nowhere (1994): Lt. Eliot Hendricks
- That Darn Cat! (1997): Melvin
- Atlantis: Milo's Return (2003): Ashton Carnaby (voice)
- The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004): Fish #3/Tough Fish #1/Victor (voice)
- Zoom: Academy for Superheroes (2006): Dylan's Teacher
- The Informant (2009): Mark Cheviron
- Rio (2011): Trapped Bird/Screaming Hang Glider (voice)
- Atlas Shrugged II: The Strike (2012): Robert Collins
- Epic (2013): Finn (voice)
- The Heat (2013): Capt. Frank Woods
Television roles
- Knight Rider (1 episode, 1984): Chip
- The Facts of Life (1 episode, 1984): Moose
- Back to the Future (26 episodes, 1991–92): Biff Tannen (voice)
- Batman: The Animated Series (2 episodes, 1993): Tony Zucco (voice)
- Gargoyles (19 episodes, 1995–97): Matt Bluestone (voice)
- Andersonville (TV movie, 1996): Thomas Sweet
- Superman: The Animated Series (1 episode, 1996): Joey (voice)
- Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1 episode, 1996): Simon
- Wing Commander Academy (13 episodes, 1996): Todd "Maniac" Marshall (voice)
- Lois & Clark (1 episode, 1997): Carter Landry
- Duckman (1 episode, 1997): Park Ranger Smith (voice)
- Aaahh!!! Real Monsters (2 episodes, 1997): Marty (voice)
- Western Animation/101DalmatiansTheSeries (3 episodes, 1997–98): Starbuck (voice)
- Pinky and the Brain (1 episode, 1998): Larry Bruhn (voice)
- The New Batman Adventures (1 episode, 1998): Howlin' Jake (voice)
- National Lampoon's Men in White (TV movie, 1998): Ed Klingbottom
- Oh Yeah! Cartoons (1 episode, 1998): Mark (voice)
- The Angry Beavers (1 episode, 1998): Bowling Patron/Otis Otto (voice)
- The Hughleys (1 episode, 1999): Stan
- Timon & Pumbaa (1 episode, 1999): Broadway Play Manager (voice)
- Pepper Ann (1 episode, 1999): Coach Bronson (voice)
- Freaks and Geeks (6 episodes, 1999–2000): Coach Ben Fredricks
- Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (1 episode, 2000): Buster (voice)
- SpongeBob SquarePants (1999-) - Flats the Flounder, Reg, the Tattletale Strangler, Marty (Patrick's fake dad), others (voice), Himself
- Max Steel (7 episodes, 2000): Pete Costas (voice)
- Nash Bridges (1 episode, 2001): Jack Noon
- Titus (1 episode, 2001): Joe
- Teacher's Pet (1 episode, 2002): Baseball Coach (voice)
- She Spies (1 episode, 2002): Roger "Rush" Gibson
- The Pitts (1 episode, 2003): Guard
- Boston Public (1 episode, 2003): Paul Stanton
- Stripperella (3 episodes, 2003): Director/Painted Patron/Zumo/Tom Green (voice)
- Ed (5 episodes, 2003): Sean Nowell
- Two and a Half Men (2 episodes, 2003–06): Mike
- Johnny Bravo (1 episode, 2004): Trent (voice)
- Rodney (1 episode, 2005): Bill
- Zoey 101 (1 episode, 2005): Coach Phelps
- Higglytown Heroes (1 episode, 2005): Truck Driver (voice)
- Reba (1 episode, 2005): Ted
- The George Lopez Show (1 episode, 2005): Sonny
- Still Standing (1 episode, 2006): Coach Kirk Stone
- Cold Case (1 episode, 2006): Arnold Brown
- Ghost Whisperer (6 episodes, 2006–08): Tim Flaherty
- House (1 episode, 2007): Lou
- Boston Legal (1 episode, 2007): Jeffrey Bass
- Bones (1 episode, 2008): Chip Barnett
- Back at the Barnyard (1 episode, 2008): Krebs (voice)
- The Spectacular Spider-Man (6 episodes, 2008–09): Stan Carter (voice)
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2 episodes, 2009–09): Santa/Sportsmaster/Catman/Mobster #2 (voice)
- Psych (1 episode, 2009): Butch Zielinski
- Family Guy (1 episode, 2009): First Step (voice)
- Adventure Time (2 episodes, 2010): Coal Guy/Cat Man/Head Marauder (voice)
- Big Love (3 episodes, 2010–11): Ricky Jax
- True Jackson, VP (1 episode, 2011): Ben Franklin
- Harry's Law (1 episode, 2011): Allan Meade
- Planet Sheen (2 episodes, 2011): Narrator/Blurg #1 (voice)
- Melissa & Joey (1 episode, 2011): Councilman Herbert Hancock
- Franklin & Bash (2 episodes, 2011–12): Spiritual Advisor
- Pig Goat Banana Cricket (2015–18): Banana (voice)
- Tales of Arcadia (2016): Coach Lawrence (voice)
- Legends of Tomorrow (2018–19): Henry "Hank" Heywood, Jr.
- The Patrick Star Show (2021–): Cecil Star (voice)
Video game roles
- Wing Commander: Maj. Todd "Maniac" Marshall
- [[Wing Commander: The Kilrathi Saga Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger (1994)
- Wind Commander IV The Price Of Freedom (1996)
- Wing Commander: Prophecy (1997)
- Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force (2000): Crewman Rick Biessman (voice)
- Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (2001): Rok-Ko
- Star Wars: The Old Republic (2011): Commander Bhoenn/Elz Organa/Gele'ren (voice)
Tropes applying to his career:
- I Am Not Spock: He is so associated with the role of Biff Tannen (and Griff and Buford) that fans of the Back to the Future franchise never stop asking him about it. He even wrote a song (quoted above) expressing his bemused frustration. Wilson has nevertheless said in interviews that he loves the role(s) and the movies, just stop asking him the same questions!note
- Mean Character, Nice Actor: He plays a lot of unpleasant, bullying characters, but one would be amazed by how utterly nice and polite he really is. In fact, Biff was created after his own childhood encounter with bullies.
- MST3K Mantra: Invoked in "Biff's Question Song", when someone asks him about the hoverboards in Back to the Future Part II:"Do those hoverboards really fly?"
It's a movie!
Stop asking me the question! - Playing Against Type: His minor role in Epic is Finn, a good guy; he seems to have a sweet, if not a little sassy, personality, from what is seen in his few scenes.
- Typecasting: He tends to be cast as mean characters.
