At the age of 93, Tom Skerritt passed away on October 21, one of those actors whose face is instantly recognizable to film fans, even if the name is not always at the forefront, thanks to his appearances in iconic movies such as M.A.S.H., Alien, Top Gun, and in his numerous television roles. His last appearance on the big screen came last year, in a film titled The Rodeo of the Soul. Skerritt was born in August 1933 in Michigan, into a middle-class family. After his military service he studied at UCLA with the aim of becoming a director, but he eventually pivoted to acting.
Tom Skerritt’s Long and Storied Career
His film debut dates back to 1962 with the war drama War Hunt, followed by a string of television appearances such as Laramie, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Law of the Far West, The Fugitive, Kronos, Mannix, and many others, before earning in 1970 the role of Duke Forest in M.A.S.H. by Robert Altman. Since then he had alternated between more substantial TV work and smaller roles in cinema, including a turn as a police officer in the cult Harold and Maude, up to the beginning of his decade of greatest success on the big screen. In 1979 he played the bearded Captain Dallas in Ridley Scott’s Alien; in 1983 David Cronenberg entrusted him with the part of Sheriff Bannerman in The Dead Zone, and in 1986 he was the commander “Viper” Metcalf in Top Gun. He is later seen in The Winning Arm, Poltergeist III, Steel Magnolias, The Recruit, Singles, and Contact. Skerritt continues to work steadily in film and, especially, on television, and in 2012 in Ted he portrays himself. He has more than 176 credits to his name, in a career spanning over 60 years and showcasing him as one of Hollywood’s most prolific character actors. In 1993 he won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for The Brock Family, for which he was also nominated the following year. For the same role in 1994 and 1995 he received Golden Globe nominations and numerous other accolades.
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