Thomas F. Wilson

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Thomas F. Wilson is an actor and comedian who portrayed Biff Tannen, Griff Tannen, and Buford Tannen in the Back to the Future trilogy, and as Biff in footage on Back to the Future: The Ride, and the voice of Biff and his ancestors and descendants in Back to the Future: The Animated Series.

Born on April 15, 1959, in Philadelphia, Thomas Francis Wilson, Jr., he became a stand-up comedian and moved to Los Angeles. He says that his start in acting was "I was featured in the commercial that introduced biscuits at Kentucky Fried Chicken. I played a construction worker. Basically, without me there wouldn't be biscuits at Kentucky Fried Chicken. You're welcome." .

Standing at 6'3", Wilson guested on episodes of the television shows Knight Rider and The Facts of Life before landing the role of Biff for Back to the Future. Although Wilson is described as a nice guy in person, he was bullied as a child, and drew upon those experiences in developing the character. An article in the Orange County Register in 1989 noted that "[D]espite his bulky 6-feet-2-mch frame, he never was and never could be a bully. In fact, back in junior high school in Philadelphia, when he was a skinny, shy and sickly youngster, he was a convenient and frequent target of the school bullies." . Wilson told an interviewer that "It was even bad during auditions when I had to read a scene with Crispin Glover. I was doing my lines, and I looked up and Crispin was giving me this pained and frightened look. It was so real that I stopped the scene to ask him if he was OK. Although I love these movies, it is strange to play a bully because those childhood memories really stick with you. Actually, I was George McFly in school. I had asthma, was on the debating team, and played the tuba in the school band. There was a whole gang of people in school who liked to punch me in the back of the head. And as I got older, the circle of people who pummeled me kept widening."

Referring to his dual role in Part II, Wilson mused, "At the end of the day, which normally went about 18 or 19 hours I was completely wasted, and I'm not sure I could ever do it again. But what a challenge. Actors get to do twins or they get to age, but they never get to do it all in one movie."

Wilson appeared in the 1994 comedy Camp Nowhere, which starred Christopher Lloyd, and later had a recurring role in the 1999 NBC comedy Freaks and Geeks.

Wilson, after being asked questions about Back to the Future wrote a song titled "The Question Song".

In 2008, Wilson provided voice work for the cartoon The Spectacular Spider-Man along with Josh Keaton (who voiced the title character).

See also

• Thomas F. Wilson on Wikipedia
• Thomas F. Wilson at Fan History Wiki