Tom Skerritt, the actor known for roles in Alien and Top Gun, has died at the age of 93.
His publicist confirmed to Variety that he died from natural causes.
“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,” a family statement shared with People read.
In a career spanning more than 60 years, the actor had more than 170 big and small screen credits, winning an Emmy and receiving Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award nominations.
After serving a four-year tour of duty in the US air force, Skerritt made his big-screen debut in the 1962 war film War Hunt alongside Robert Redford and Sydney Pollack, but his breakout came in 1970 with a role in Robert Altman’s hit satire M*A*S*H. The film was a major box office hit and was nominated for the best picture Oscar.
The 1970s saw Skerritt follow the film with roles in the cult black comedy Harold and Maude, Altman’s crime drama Thieves Like Us, Roger Corman’s sexploitation comedy Big Bad Mama and the Oscar-nominated ballet drama The Turning Point.
The decade closed out with a role in Ridley Scott’s smash hit Alien, a film he had earlier turned down due to the low budget. “At two million bucks and with other actors that I don’t know about, this is a film that could have been directed by Ed Wood,” he said in a 2019 interview. “I was uncertain about it because my training with Altman and Ashby had proceeded me, so I had that approach that I had absorbed from watching those two guys going about their work.”
The following decade saw him feature in David Cronenberg’s The Dead Zone, the sci-fi adventure SpaceCamp, horror sequel Poltergeist III and female-led comedy drama Steel Magnolias.
Skerritt also worked with Tony Scott in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, a role he almost didn’t get. “There was some question about me playing that role because I was … I think they used the word, laconic,” he said in a 2021 interview with Vulture. “It pissed me off. I went into it with [producer] Don Simpson, who was still alive at that point … don’t tell me, as a producer, what you think I’m going to be doing. You’re going to get what you need.”
In the 1990s, he reunited with Robert Redford for A River Runs Through It and also starred with Jodie Foster in Contact, Drew Barrymore in Poison Ivy and Diane Keaton in The Other Sister.
Skerritt also received an Emmy for his role in David E Kelley’s family drama Picket Fences, a show that ran for four seasons.
The 2000s saw him star with Bruce Willis in Tears of the Sun, Kate Beckinsale in Whiteout and on the small screen he had roles in Will & Grace, The West Wing and Brothers & Sisters.
His last film role was in the western drama Broke in 2025 with Dennis Quaid.
In 2012, he also co-founded an initiative called the Red Badge Project, which aimed to help veterans process their PTSD through storytelling. “It starts with that wanting to help someone else rather than talking about it,” Skerritt said to CBS News. “I just got tired of talking about this if I could do something about it.”
“I’m just a lucky guy, man,” he said in 2021. “Strength is measured in how you confront your weaknesses. I have had a lot of weaknesses. I still have them.”
