Tom Skerritt, Alien And Top Gun Star, Dies At 93

Tom Skerritt (real name: Thomas Roy Skerritt), best known for his roles in M*A*S*H, Alien, Top Gun and Picket Fences, has passed away. The American actor-director died at age 93.

Skerritt died Wednesday (October 21) in Seattle of natural causes, his family announced, as per a report in The Hollywood Reporter.

Tom Skerritt dies

“We are heartbroken by his loss,” the family said in a statement. “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.”

Who was Tom Skerritt?

Skerritt, a Detroit native's Hollywood career spanned from the 1960s to the 2020s.

In 1977, he played Shirley MacLaine’s husband in the 11-time Oscar nominee The Turning Point. He later appeared as Tom Cruise’s Air Force instructor Mike "Viper" Metcalf in Top Gun in 1986 and as a minister and the MacLean family patriarch in Robert Redford’s rhythmic A River Runs Through It in 1992.

Skerritt played lawman Will Kane in TBS’s 2000 remake of High Noon.

His breakthrough role was in director Robert Altman's 1970 Korean War black comedy M*A*S*H, where he played a roguish US Army surgeon.

After M*A*S*H, Skerritt worked in films, including Wild Rovers (1971), Fuzz (1972), Big Bad Mama (1974) and Ice Castles (1978). He reunited with Altman in Thieves Like Us (1974).

Tom Skerritt's early life

Born on August 25, 1933, in the Motor City, Skerritt graduated from Mackenzie High School in 1951. After his graduation, he enlisted in the Air Force. He couldn't be a pilot but spent most of his time in uniform in Austin as a classification specialist. Skerritt then returned to his hometown to study English at Wayne State University.

He then decided to pursue a career as a writer or director, for which he transferred to UCLA.