On Wednesday 21 October, US time, the actor Tom Skerritt died of natural causes, his family said in a statement. He was 93, CBS News reported.
His publicist confirmed the death to CBS News on Thursday 22 October, US time. Variety and The Guardian also reported his death.
Skerritt was known for his roles in Alien, Top Gun and the television series Picket Fences, which won him an Emmy.
The Family’s Statement
“We are heartbroken by his loss,” the family said, according to CBS News.
The statement went on to describe the man the family knew away from the roles.
“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.”
Three Roles
Alien put him at the top of the bill.
In the 1979 film he played Dallas, the captain of the Nostromo, and was billed first, ahead of Sigourney Weaver, Variety reported. In Top Gun (1986) he played Commander Mike “Viper” Metcalf.
Television brought him the Emmy. He won outstanding lead actor in a drama series in 1993 for Picket Fences, CBS News reported. He played Sheriff Jimmy Brock, according to Variety, and his Picket Fences co-star was Kathy Baker.
From the Air Force to Film
His road to acting began in uniform. Skerritt spent four years in the Air Force before studying at UCLA, according to CBS News.
His first film was War Hunt in 1962. It also marked the debuts of Robert Redford, Sydney Pollack and Francis Ford Coppola, CBS News reported.
The connection with Redford lasted. Redford later cast him as the Rev. John Maclean in A River Runs Through It, according to CBS News.
His other films include MASH, Harold and Maude, The Turning Point, The Dead Zone, Steel Magnolias and Contact, The Guardian reported.
He kept working into his 90s. His last film was the western Broke in 2025, with Dennis Quaid, according to The Guardian.
Tributes and the Red Badge Project
Two co-stars spoke about him.
Julia Roberts, who appeared with him in Steel Magnolias, remembered him as “a shining light of a gentle man”, The Guardian reported.
Kathy Baker spoke about her TV husband.
“My heart is broken to hear of the passing of dear, lovely, loving, Tom, my TV husband, my partner, my darling friend,” Baker told People, as reported by The Guardian.
Away from the screen, Skerritt co-founded the Red Badge Project in 2012 to help veterans process PTSD through storytelling, according to The Guardian.
He is survived by his third wife, Julie Tokashiki, and five children, CBS News reported.
More is in our Celebrity Life archive.
A Character Actor in a Leading Man’s Body
His career ran from War Hunt in 1962 to Broke in 2025. Through all of it, there was one description of himself that Skerritt liked.
He told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in 1997, as reported by CBS News: “A writer once described me as a character actor locked in a leading man’s body, and I’ve always loved that.”
In 2021 he put it more simply.
“I’m just a lucky guy, man,” he said, The Guardian reported.
Sources: CBS News, “Tom Skerritt, known for roles in “Alien,” “Top Gun” and TV’s “Picket Fences,” dies at age 93″, 22 October 2026 (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tom-skerritt-dies-age-93-alien-top-gun-picket-fences/); Variety, “Tom Skerritt, ‘Picket Fences’ and ‘Alien’ Star, Dies at 93”, 22 October 2026 (https://variety.com/2026/film/news/tom-skerritt-dead-picket-fences-alien-1236921694/); The Guardian, “Tom Skerritt, Alien and Top Gun actor, dies aged 93”, 22 October 2026 (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/oct/22/tom-skerritt-actor-dead)
Photo: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Tom Skerritt at the Phoenix Comicon Fan Fest in Glendale, Arizona, in December 2014.
