Film and TV actor Tom Skerritt, best known for his roles in Alien, Top Gun and the show Picket Fences, has died. He was 93.
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His family confirmed his death in a statement to People.
“Our family is deeply saddened to share that Tom Skerritt passed away on October 21, 2026, from natural causes,” the family said. “He was a loving husband to Julie; father to Andy, Erin, Matt, Colin, and Emiko; grandfather to Sara, Maddison, Sunny, Louisa, and Georgia; and great-grandfather to Marigold and Ravi. We are heartbroken by his loss.”
“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 family also recalled his passion for “imagination, creativity, storytelling, service, veterans, the natural world, and helping others find and share their own voices.”
“We are incredibly grateful for the love and support being shown by his friends, colleagues, and fans. We ask for privacy as our family grieves. Information regarding a memorial will be shared at a later date.”
Skerritt was born in Detroit on Aug. 25, 1933. After graduating high school, he joined the Air Force, which allowed him to attend Henry Ford College and Wayne State University before transferring to UCLA.
It was during his time at UCLA that he was discovered and cast in his first film.
After graduation, he was mentored by director Robert Altman, who cast Skerritt in his 1970 film M*A*S*H. Skerritt credited Altman with helping him really break out into the business.
His true big break was as captain Dallas in Ridley Scott’s Alien in 1979.
In 2019, Skerritt told the AV Club that making the film was “one of the most memorable things.” He said the cast knew they were “making something extraordinary.”
His next big role came in 1986 when he played Commander Mike “Viper” Metcalf in Top Gun. “Everybody was having a good time on this. We all knew, or maybe I just sensed it, that this was going to be a very successful film,” he told Fox News Digital in 2022.
Skerritt is perhaps best known for his role on CBS’ hit series Picket Fences, which ran from 1992 – 1996. He starred as small town sheriff Jimmy Brock, and won an Emmy for the role in 1993.
Throughout his decades-long career, Skerritt gained 150 credits.
“I don’t think many people in the business I am in have not had that overreaching of two or three decades of extraordinary projects,” he told We Are the Mighty in 2020.