Tom Skerritt Dies: Alien and Top Gun Actor Was 93
Tom Skerritt, the rugged, mustachioed actor best known to IGN readers for his roles in Top Gun and Alien, passed away from natural causes on Wednesday at the age of 93.
“We are heartbroken by his loss,” Skerritt’s family said in a statement provided to The Hollywood Reporter.
“While the world knew Tom through his remarkable acting career, we knew him for his humor, curiosity, wisdom, generosity and the love he brought into our lives. He cared deeply about imagination, creativity, storytelling, service, veterans, the natural world and helping others find and share their own voices.”
Skerritt first gained acclaim as a film actor in director Robert Altman’s 1970 comedy M*A*S*H, where he played surgeon Duke Forrest, one of the few characters not included in the later classic TV series adaptation.
Other notable films of Skerritt’s in the 1970s include Harold and Maude, The Turning Point, Fuzz, Thieves Like Us, and Cheech & Chong’s Up in Smoke.
After initially turning down the role, Skerritt played Captain Arthur Dallas in Ridley Scott’s now classic sci-fi/horror film Alien (1979). Skerritt belonged to an ensemble that included Sigourney Weaver, Yaphet Kotto, Ian Holm, John Hurt, Harry Dean Stanton, and Veronica Cartwright. (Be sure to read Scott Collura's deep-dive interview with Tom Skerritt about the making of Alien.)
During the 1980s, Skerritt had roles in films such as The Dead Zone, Wisdom, SpaceCamp, Poltergeist III, and Steel Magnolias. But the role from that decade Skerritt best came to be remembered for is Commander Mike "Viper" Metcalf in 1986’s Top Gun. As the Commanding Officer of the Top Gun program, Viper had to keep hot shot US Navy fighter pilots like Tom Cruise’s Maverick and Val Kilmer’s Iceman in check.
Skerritt’s most notable film role in the 1990s was as the father of Brad Pitt and Craig Sheffer’s character in director Robert Redford’s 1992 drama A River Runs Through It.
He later appeared in Singles, Contact, Smoke Signals, Tears of the Sun, Whiteout, and A Hologram for the King. Skerritt played himself in Seth McFarlane’s 2012 comedy Ted.
While Skerritt’s career in television goes back to the early 1960s, his most notable role on the screen was as Sheriff Jimmy Brock in the David E. Kelley-created 1992-96 series Picket Fences. Skerritt won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for the role. The actor also did stints on Cheers, Brothers & Sisters, Huff, and The Good Wife.
Born Thomas Roy Skerritt on August 25, 1933 in Detroit, Michigan, Skerritt was married three times and had five children. He was also a military veteran having served in the US Air Force from 1951-55.