His paternal grandparents, Anna and Harry Tolkan, were Russian Jewish immigrants. His maternal grandparents, Sofia and Alexander Silvola, were Finnish.
He has appeared in two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant": Back to the Future (1985) and Top Gun (1986).
Currently resides in Lake Placid, New York. (March 2010)