Biff (possibly Buford) Howard Tannen was born on March 26, 1937 in Hill Valley, California. He was the great-grandson of Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen and the son of Irving "Kid" Tannen,[1] and the grandfather of Griff Tannen. He was not very bright and only got through high school by bullying George McFly to do his homework for him. Biff often took pleasure in calling George McFly an "Irish bug". He was feared by most of his schoolmates. In 1955, he surrounded himself with a gang consisting of (Match, Skinhead, and 3-D). He also had a crush on Lorraine Baines and referred to her as "my girl", and continued to take an interest in her even thirty and sixty years later. Lorraine did not return the sentiments.
Biff was noted for mixed metaphors. For example, he said "make like a tree and get out of here" instead of "make like a tree and leave" on more than one occasion. He also once said "That's about as funny as a screen door on a battleship" instead of submarine. During his theft of the DeLorean in 1991, he said "Have a nice trip, see you next winter!" His insult of choice was "butthead", or — usually when addressing George McFly — (Irish) "bug." One of his routines was to knock on someone's head and say "Hello? Hello? Anybody home?" He liked cars and ended up with a career waxing and cleaning them with his auto detailing business. Biff was still a jerk and more passive-aggressive than a bully, but could be nice when necessary, usually to get out of trouble.