After spending decades in millions of American homes as families stepped back from life to be thrilled in “Top Gun” or scared stiff in “Alien,” actor Tom Skerritt has died at the age of 93.
Skerritt, who won an Emmy playing Sheriff Jimmy Brock in “Picket Fences,” died Wednesday of natural causes, his family said, according to NBC News.
“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,” his family said.
“He cared deeply about imagination, creativity, storytelling, service, veterans, the natural world, and helping others find and share their own voices.”
Skerritt played Capt. Duke Forrest in “M*A*S*H.”
He also was Tom Cruise’s flight instructor in the original “Top Gun” and Capt. Dallas in the 1979 classic “Alien.”
“Good Morning Gentlemen…”
Sad to hear of the passing of Tom Skerritt famous for being ‘Viper’ and so many other great roles. Some may not know that he was actually an Air Force veteran himself and whilst he was never a flyer, his brother flew P-51’s in WW2. Sad he never made it to any of the sequels. Maybe a mention or nod to him would be appropriate if they ever do another.
— Scott Bateman MBE (@scottiebateman) October 23, 2026
In a 2020 interview, Skerritt was asked if he had any life lessons he would impart to others, according to Radar Online.
“I’ve lived through everything, so what regrets could I have? I’m healthy and reasonably sane. Lessons? Make the most out of every day,” he said.
Asked about retirement at the time, he replied, “I don’t know what the hell that means. Your life changes, and you try to fill it up as much as you possibly can.”
He remarked that making “Steel Magnolias” was an experience.
“Being with very strong-willed, strong-minded women, I learned to just keep my place,” Skerritt joked.
It’s interesting that the @CNN headline for Tom Skerritt was “Everyman actor of Alien (1979) and Picket Fences dies at 93.” 🤔
GenX remembers him from Top Gun (1986) and later in A River Runs Through It (1992) dir. by Robert Redford. But his breakthrough role came as Duke Forrest in Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H (1970) with Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould. #RIPTomSkerritt
— The Golden Age 🇺🇸👍 (@shonkori) October 22, 2026
“Each of us were renting a house in Louisiana and each one [hosted] dinner on a Saturday night. I’d just go listen to them talk, and it was quite wonderful to be around strong women. You begin to realize that women should be running the country right now,” he said.
In 2021, he spoke to NPR about mortality in the context of a character nearing death in “East of the Mountains.”
Which of Tom Skerritt’s roles do you remember most fondly?
“I’ve been close to it myself. Each time — I might have had typhoid fever, malaria, that kind of thing, wandering with malaria in the jungles in Philippine, saying, so that’s why I’m doing this not very good movie, just for me to be here,” he said.
“And I’m looking up to the stars and say, ah, it was for me to see the southern hemisphere for the first time and for me to smell the flower, the growth that’s in the jungle. All of these senses that come to you that you never had before becomes more of a value than whether you’re going to die or not. That’s a lot of what I brought to this character,” he added.
“All of those things that I’ve had where I’ve come close to the end and just said, I can pull myself out of this; I’m going to pull myself through it. So that is really what was being uncovered with this doctor as he’s headed over there and hunting birds and carrying a shotgun that he might use on himself – all of these considerations,” he said.
“I have to come to grips with myself, as everyone does when you get to a certain age in your life.”
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