Donald Trump inspired Biff, Back To The Future creator Bob Gale reveals

It's only a matter of time before we start calling him 'America’s greatest living folk hero'

Jack Shepherd
Friday 23 October 2015 09:14 BST
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Biff
Biff (Universal/Getty)

Back in the eighties, director Robert Zemeckis and screenwriter Bob Gale created an iconic villain for their film Back to the Future series: Biff Tannen.

In the original he bullied Marty McFl, then, in the sequel, he becomes a wealthy, corrupt business man who used his political powers – gained by owning a casino – to take over Hill Valley.

Sound like a certain US presidential candidate? That’s because Donald Trump acted as inspiration for the character, according to creator Bob Gale.

When asked by the Daily Beast whether he noticed the similarities between Biff and Trump, Gale said: “We thought about it when we made the movie! Are you kidding?

“You watch Part II again and there’s a scene where Marty confronts Biff in his office and there’s a huge portrait of Biff on the wall behind Biff, and there’s one moment where Biff kind of stands up and he takes exactly the same pose as the portrait? Yeah.”

At the time of release, Trump was already an infamous property magnate, having just acquired the Taj Mahal Casino the previous year.

Unlike Biff, Trump has yet to demand that people call him “America’s greatest living folk hero.”

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