Tom Skerritt, the Emmy-winning actor who brought calm, wry authority to everything from a doomed spaceship captain to a small-town sheriff, has died. He was 93.
His family said he died of natural causes on Wednesday, October 21, at his home in Seattle. “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,” the family said in a statement, according to The Seattle Times.
Here is a look back at a career that spanned more than six decades, drawing on reporting from BBC News and the Associated Press.
From the Air Force to the big screen
Skerritt was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1933 and served in the US Air Force before turning to acting, a background that fit neatly with the many military and authority-figure roles he would go on to play.
He made his film debut in 1962 in War Hunt, alongside a young Robert Redford. Three decades later he reunited with Redford, this time as a director, in the 1992 drama A River Runs Through It, playing the stern minister father of the characters played by Craig Sheffer and Brad Pitt.
His breakthrough came in Robert Altman’s 1970 Korean War comedy M*A*S*H, in which he played army surgeon Duke Forrest alongside Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould and Sally Kellerman. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards and was later adapted into the long-running television series.
Alien, Top Gun and a run of classics
In 1979 Skerritt played Dallas, the captain of the ill-fated Nostromo, in Ridley Scott’s Alien opposite Sigourney Weaver. In a 2019 interview cited by Reuters, he said one of the things he liked most about the script was that “the woman becomes a hero,” a reference to Weaver’s Ripley.
Seven years later he became Commander Mike “Viper” Metcalf in Top Gun, the flight school chief who keeps a watchful eye on Tom Cruise’s Maverick. The role made him a familiar face to a whole new generation of moviegoers.
He worked opposite a string of strong female leads, appearing with Shirley MacLaine in The Turning Point (1977) and playing Sally Field’s husband in Steel Magnolias (1989). He also appeared in Contact and, much later, in the comedy Ted.
An Emmy for Picket Fences
On television, Skerritt found one of his most celebrated roles as Sheriff Jimmy Brock in David E. Kelley’s quirky drama Picket Fences, which earned him an Emmy Award in 1993. Lauren Holly, who played his deputy, described him in a tribute as “our leader,” adding that his example “made those years such a joy.”
His TV work also included a memorable six-episode stint on Cheers as Evan Drake, Rebecca Howe’s handsome boss, as well as guest roles on The West Wing, Law and Order: SVU and Madam Secretary. He reunited with Sally Field on Brothers and Sisters, playing family patriarch William Walker from 2007 to 2009.
A legacy beyond the screen
Skerritt was a firm believer in the power of storytelling to help people. He co-founded TheFilmSchool in Seattle to support new filmmakers, and co-founded the Red Badge Project, which helps veterans work through difficult experiences by writing and sharing their stories.
Inspired partly by his time making A River Runs Through It, he also championed the natural world, creating the documentary series Reflections of the River about America’s rivers and supporting river conservation. His family said he would be remembered “for his belief that stories can help people heal, find purpose and create change.”
He is survived by his wife, Julie, five children and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Remembering a reliable presence
Few actors were as quietly dependable as Tom Skerritt. He rarely needed to be the loudest person on screen; his steadiness was the point. Whether he was barking orders on a fighter base, keeping order in a small Wisconsin town or facing the unknown in deep space, audiences believed him. That kind of trust is hard to earn, and it is why so many fans are revisiting his films this weekend.
Image: Movie theater seats (Unsplash) by Elijah Flores baesik via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0
