{"id":3158,"date":"2026-10-23T10:04:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T05:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3158"},"modified":"2026-10-23T10:04:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T05:04:22","slug":"actor-tom-skerritt-star-of-alien-and-top-gun-dies-at-93","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3158","title":{"rendered":"Actor Tom Skerritt, star of ‘Alien’ and ‘Top Gun,’ dies at 93"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Versatile actor Tom Skerritt, who starred in Hollywood megahits including the sci-fi classic \u201cAlien,\u201d the war comedy \u201cM*A*S*H,\u201d and the action drama \u201cTop Gun,\u201d has died at the age of 93.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Skerritt, a Detroit native whose Hollywood career spanned from the 1960s to the 2020s, died on \u200bWednesday of natural causes, his family said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the world knew Tom through his remarkable acting career, we knew \u200chim for his humour, curiosity, wisdom, generosity, and the love he brought into our lives,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe cared deeply about imagination, creativity, storytelling, service, veterans, the natural world, and helping others find and share their own voices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Known for his rugged good looks and ability to shine in a variety of genres, Skerritt delivered memorable performances in leading and supporting roles \u200bin film and television.<\/p>\n

Skerritt\u2019s breakthrough role was a roguish US Army surgeon in director Robert Altman\u2019s 1970 Korean War black comedy \u201cM*A*S*H,\u201d a film \u200bwhose ensemble cast also included Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould and Sally Kellerman.<\/p>\n

Skerritt played Southerner Duke Forrest as one of the doctors \u2060at the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital who stitched up wounded troops.<\/p>\n

The film, whose popularity coincided with American unease over the Vietnam War, was nominated for five \u200bAcademy Awards.<\/p>\n

In director Ridley Scott\u2019s claustrophobic 1979 sci-fi horror \u201cAlien,\u201d Skerritt played Dallas, the captain of an ill-fated spacecraft whose crew encounters a deadly parasitic extraterrestrial creature \u200bwith a surrealist look and a bad attitude.<\/p>\n

In the film\u2019s famous and bloody \u201cchestburster\u201d scene, Skerritt\u2019s character is seated next to cast mate John Hurt when a baby alien violently exits the torso of Hurt\u2019s character.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlien,\u201d an influential masterpiece whose ensemble cast also included Sigourney Weaver and Ian Holm, earned two Oscar nominations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is spontaneity and impulse that make the \u200bdifference, and that is what I felt we had with \u2018Alien.\u2019 Every one of us had that immediate rapport with each other \u2014 the respect that I \u200bhad for the other actors and the respect that they had for me,\u201d Skerritt told interviewer Peter Sobczynski in 2019, while also lauding Scott\u2019s directorial brilliance.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlien\u201d was one of \u200cseveral films \u2060in which Skerritt appeared that featured strong female characters, in this case Weaver\u2019s courageous character Ripley. That was considered pioneering at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I read the script, one of the things that I liked most about it was that the woman becomes the hero. I loved that,\u201d Skerritt said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sight of women being in positions of strength and fortitude to make the right connections and decisions was what appealed to me. I experienced that as well in \u2018Steel Magnolias,\u2019 with \u200bthe women in that. I liked \u200bthe idea of women being tough \u2060and strong and influential.\u201d<\/p>\n

In \u201cSteel Magnolias\u201d (1989), Skerritt played Drum Eatenton, husband of Sally Field\u2019s M\u2019Lynn Eatenton.<\/p>\n

Tony Scott, the brother of the \u201cAlien\u201d director, cast Skerritt in the key supporting role of naval aviation instructor Viper Metcalf in the 1986 blockbuster \u201cTop Gun\u201d \u200bthat helped star Tom Cruise soar into Hollywood\u2019s stratosphere.<\/p>\n

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Skerritt also played Shirley MacLaine\u2019s husband in director Herbert Ross\u2019s \u200b1977 ballet drama \u201cThe Turning \u2060Point,\u201d and starred alongside another emerging star in Brad Pitt, in Robert Redford\u2019s beautifully shot 1992 period drama \u201cA River Runs Through It.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among other films in which he appeared were: \u201cHarold and Maude\u201d (1971), \u201cIce Castles\u201d (1978), \u201cThe Dead Zone\u201d (1983), \u201cPoltergeist III\u201d (1988), \u201cContact\u201d (1997), \u201cTears of the Sun\u201d (2003) and \u201cTed\u201d (2012).<\/p>\n

On the small screen, Skerritt starred in the offbeat CBS series \u201cPicket Fences\u201d from 1992 to 1996, playing \u2060a Wisconsin \u200btown sheriff and claiming an Emmy as outstanding lead actor in a drama series in \u200b1993.<\/p>\n

Born on August 25, 1933, in Detroit, Skerritt served in the US Air Force before becoming an actor, making his film debut in 1962 alongside a young Redford in \u201cWar Hunt.\u201d He was a \u200bfather of five children and was married three times.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Versatile actor Tom Skerritt, who starred in Hollywood megahits including the sci-fi classic \u201cAlien,\u201d the war comedy \u201cM*A*S*H,\u201d and the action drama \u201cTop Gun,\u201d has died at the age of 93. Skerritt, a Detroit native whose Hollywood career spanned from the 1960s to the 2020s, died on \u200bWednesday of natural causes, his family said in a statement. \u201cWhile the world knew Tom through his remarkable acting career, we knew \u200chim for his humour, curiosity, wisdom, generosity, and the love he brought into our lives,\u201d they said. \u201cHe cared deeply about…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3158\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}