Tom Skerritt, the versatile American character actor whose six-decade career spanned Alien, Top Gun and the television drama Picket Fences, has died at 93. His family said he died Wednesday of natural causes.
"While the world knew Tom through his remarkable acting career, we knew him for his humour, curiosity, wisdom, generosity and the love he brought into our lives," his family said in a statement, adding that he would be remembered "for his belief that stories can help people heal, find purpose and create change."
From Mash to Alien
Born in Detroit in 1933, Skerritt served in the US Air Force before pursuing acting, making his film debut opposite a young Robert Redford in 1962's War Hunt. His breakthrough came playing Army surgeon Duke Forrest in the 1970 Korean War comedy Mash, nominated for five Academy Awards. He went on to star alongside Sigourney Weaver in Ridley Scott's Alien in 1979, a role that spawned three sequels, and as Cdr Mike "Viper" Metcalf opposite a young Tom Cruise in 1986's Top Gun.
"It is spontaneity and impulse that make the difference, and that is what I felt we had with 'Alien,'" Skerritt told Reuters in a 2019 interview. "Every one of us had that immediate rapport with each other." He noted that one of the things he liked most about the script was that "the woman becomes a hero," referring to Weaver's Ripley — a pattern that recurred across his career, including opposite Shirley MacLaine in The Turning Point and Sally Field in Steel Magnolias.
On television, Skerritt won an Emmy in 1993 for playing Sheriff Jimmy Brock in David E. Kelley's Picket Fences. His former co-star Lauren Holly called him "our leader" in a tribute: "He cared deeply for his family — both the one at home and the one at work." Skerritt also co-founded TheFilmSchool in Seattle to mentor emerging filmmakers, a project his family said reflected his conviction that storytelling could help people "heal, find purpose and create change."