Tom Skerritt dies at 93, spokesperson confirms to Variety
Tom Skerritt, the recognizable actor who captained the Nostromo in Alien and trained pilots as Viper in Top Gun, died on Wednesday of natural causes at age 93, his spokesperson confirmed to the industry publication Variety, n-tv.de reported.
Six Decades Across Film and Television
His feature film debut arrived in 1962 in the war drama War Hunt, sharing the screen with a young Robert Redford. Over the next six decades, Skerritt built a reputation for reliable supporting work across major Hollywood productions and television series.
In Ridley Scott’s 1979 science-fiction horror film Alien, Skerritt played Dallas, captain of the ill-fated space freighter Nostromo. Seven years later, he appeared in Tony Scott’s Top Gun as Commander Mike “Viper” Metcalf, the chief instructor at the elite fighter school where Tom Cruise’s character trained. His filmography also includes Robert Altman’s 1970 war satire MASH as the surgeon Duke Forrest, and Robert Redford’s 1992 directorial effort A River Runs Through It, where he portrayed a presbyterian minister and father to characters played by Brad Pitt and Craig Sheffer.
Skerritt Won an Emmy for Picket Fences
While Skerritt worked steadily in cinema—appearing as a motorcycle police officer in Harold and Maude, a sheriff in David Cronenberg’s Stephen King adaptation The Dead Zone, and Julia Roberts’ character’s father in Steel Magnolias—his most prominent industry accolade arrived on the small screen. In 1993, he won an Emmy Award for his role as Sheriff Jimmy Brock in the David E. Kelley CBS series Picket Fences, which ran from 1992 to 1996 and earned him multiple Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.
His television career included recurring roles on Cheers as Evan Drake, the boss of Kirstie Alley’s character Rebecca Howe, and as family patriarch William Walker in ABC’s Brothers & Sisters from 2006 to 2009. Guest appearances brought him to political and legal dramas such as The West Wing and The Good Wife, alongside a comedic self-parody in Seth MacFarlane’s 2012 film Ted.
Skerritt received a National Board of Review award for best supporting actor for The Turning Point. He was married three times, to Charlotte Shanks and Sue Oran, both ending in divorce, and is survived by his wife Julie Tokashiki, whom he married in 1998, and five children.
Disclaimer: The views and cultural analyses presented in this article are for informational and entertainment purposes only. Information regarding legal disputes or financial data is based on available public records.