Tom Skerritt, actor known for 'Top Gun,' 'River Runs Through It' and 'Picket Fences,' dies at 93
Tom Skerritt, the Emmy-winning actor who embodied a solid, wry authority figure, whether as a flight instructor in "Top Gun," a tough-but-fair sheriff on TV's "Picket Fences" or the doomed captain of "Alien," has died. He was 93.
Skerritt died Wednesday of natural causes, his 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," the statement said.
Skerritt was twice nominated for an Emmy — both for "Picket Fences," winning outstanding lead actor in a drama series in 1993. Other career highlights include "A River Runs Through It," playing the patient husband of Shirley MacLaine in "Turning Point," Sally Field's husband in "Steel Magnolias" and a scheming opportunist who stands in the way of Jodie Foster's attempt to communicate with extraterrestrial life in "Contact."
"A writer once described me as a character actor locked in a leading man's body, and I've always loved that. It's a nice compliment. I've been able to walk the line between television and features," he told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in 1997.
Onstage, he was the narrator in "Our Town" at Seattle's Intiman Theatre in 2004 and made his Broadway debut in 2013 in an adaptation of John Grisham's "A Time to Kill," in which The Associated Press wrote he "nicely pulls off a charming disgraced and drunken lawyer."
Skerrit was remembered as a husband to his wife Julie; father to Andy, Erin, Matt, Collin, and Emiko; grandfather to Sara, Maddison, Sunny, Louisa, and Georgia; and great-grandfather to Marigold and Ravi.
"Tom believed deeply in the power of storytelling. He helped found TheFilmSchool in Seattle to support the next generation of filmmakers and storytellers," his family's statement said. "That commitment later extended to the Red Badge Project, which he co-founded to help veterans work through PTSD, anxiety, and depression by writing and sharing their experiences."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
