Tom Skerritt, ‘Alien’ and ‘Top Gun’ Star, Dies at 93

Tom Skerritt dies at 93, his family has announced, closing a screen career that stretched from the early 1960s into the 2020s and took in M*A*S*H, Alien, Top Gun and the Emmy-winning television drama Picket Fences. The veteran American actor died on Wednesday, 21 October, of natural causes, according to a family statement.

FAKTA

• Who: Tom Skerritt, American actor, aged 93
• Died: Wednesday, 21 October 2026, of natural causes
• Announced: Family statement shared on 22 October
• Breakthrough: Duke Forrest in M*A*S*H (1970)
• Best known: Captain Dallas in Alien (1979); Commander Mike “Viper” Metcalf in Top Gun (1986)
• Television: Sheriff Jimmy Brock in Picket Fences (1992–1996); Emmy Award for outstanding lead actor in 1993
• Born: 25 August 1933 in Detroit; served in the United States Air Force before studying acting

Tom Skerritt dies: family announces death at 93

“We are heartbroken by his loss,” the family said in its statement, distributed by Skerritt’s publicist. “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.”

The statement said Skerritt cared deeply about imagination, creativity, storytelling, service, veterans, the natural world, and helping others find and share their own voices. The family asked for privacy as it grieves and said information about a memorial would be shared at a later date. His manager also confirmed his death, Reuters reported.

Skerritt is survived by his wife Julie, his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

A career spanning six decades

Born in Detroit on 25 August 1933, Skerritt served in the United States Air Force before studying at Wayne State University and the University of California, Los Angeles. He made his feature film debut in the 1962 war drama War Hunt, and his breakthrough came as the roguish army surgeon Duke Forrest in director Robert Altman’s 1970 Korean War black comedy M*A*S*H, a film nominated for five Academy Awards.

By the end of the 1970s he had played one of his most enduring roles: Dallas, captain of the ill-fated spacecraft Nostromo in Ridley Scott’s 1979 science-fiction classic Alien, whose ensemble cast included Sigourney Weaver. In 1986 he reached a new generation of cinemagoers as Commander Mike “Viper” Metcalf, the stern flying instructor in the blockbuster Top Gun, alongside Tom Cruise.

His other film credits included The Turning Point, The Dead Zone, Steel Magnolias, A River Runs Through It and Contact, and he appeared on television in shows including Gunsmoke, The Twilight Zone and Cheers. His defining television role came as Sheriff Jimmy Brock in the CBS drama Picket Fences, which ran from 1992 to 1996 and earned him the 1993 Primetime Emmy Award for outstanding lead actor in a drama series.

A performer of remarkable range

Across war comedy, science-fiction horror, blockbuster action and small-town television drama, Skerritt built a reputation for unflappable authority and disarming likability. From the operating theatre of M*A*S*H to the cockpit school of Top Gun and the sheriff’s office of Picket Fences, his characters anchored the stories around them, and his work continued to reach new audiences decades after it was made.

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