US actor Tom Skerritt, whose six-decade screen career took in the science-fiction landmark Alien, the drama Picket Fences and the blockbuster Top Gun, has died at the age of 93, the BBC reports.
His family said he died on Wednesday of natural causes. In a statement carried by the BBC, they described him as a man the public recognised for his acting but whom they knew for his sense of humour, his curiosity, his wisdom and his generosity, along with the affection he gave them.
Why it matters
Skerritt belonged to that tier of working actors whose faces are more familiar than their names. He was rarely the marquee attraction, yet he appeared in films and shows that became reference points for several generations of viewers, from a 1970s Robert Altman comedy to a 1980s naval-aviation blockbuster and a 1990s courtroom-and-family drama.
His death removes another link to the New Hollywood era of the early 1970s, when directors were given unusual latitude and character actors were handed substantial parts. It also closes a career that moved fluidly between prestige cinema, network television and, late in life, comedy aimed at younger audiences.
A run of films that outlasted their moment
Skerritt played Captain Dallas in Ridley Scott's 1979 film Alien, the crew member who leads the expedition in the picture that starred Sigourney Weaver. The BBC notes the film went on to spawn three sequels and a number of crossover projects.
His film work also included a role opposite Shirley MacLaine in 1977's The Turning Point, and he appeared as Commander Mike "Viper" Metcalf in Top Gun in 1986. Three years later he played the husband of Sally Field's character in Steel Magnolias. Earlier, he had been part of the ensemble of Robert Altman's MASH, the 1970 service comedy that became one of the defining films of its period.
Later credits included A River Runs Through It and the comedy Ted, according to the BBC, showing a willingness to keep taking parts well beyond the age at which many performers step back.
An Emmy, and a second life in television
On the small screen, Skerritt won an Emmy Award in 1993 for his performance as Sheriff Jimmy Brock in Picket Fences, the drama created by David E Kelley. The BBC reports that the show's ensemble was nominated for Screen Actors Guild Awards in 1995 and 1996, and that Skerritt himself was nominated in the male actor in a drama series category in 1995.
The role suited him. Sheriff Brock was a small-town lawman and family man in a series that mixed legal cases with domestic life, and it gave Skerritt the kind of sustained leading part that film had generally denied him.
Off screen, he helped found TheFilmSchool in Seattle, an institution set up to support emerging filmmakers and storytellers. His family said he would be remembered for his conviction that stories can help people heal, find purpose and bring about change.
Skerritt's career stretched across roughly 60 years and included both film and television work, a range the BBC describes as central to his reputation. He leaves a body of work that will continue to circulate on streaming platforms and in repertory screenings, and a film school in the Pacific Northwest that carries his name in its founding history.
