Tom Skerritt, the raw actor who shone among the ensembles of CRUSH, Stranger And Top Gun before starring as small-town sheriff Jimmy Brock in the original 1990s series Picket fencesdied. He was 93 years old.
Skerritt died Wednesday of natural causes, his family said.
“We are heartbroken by his loss,” they said. “While the world knew Tom through his remarkable acting career, we knew him for his humor, his curiosity, his wisdom, his 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 Skerritt collaboration also played Shirley MacLaine’s husband in the 11-time Academy Award-nominated film. The turning point (1977), was Tom Cruise’s Air Force instructor Mike “Viper” Metcalf in Top Gun (1986) and was memorable as the pastor and patriarch of the MacLean family in Robert Redford’s rhythmic film A river runs through it (1992).
Known for his outdoorsy features and spiky mustache, the handsome actor exuded masculinity during his six-decade career and was often placed in positions of authority – such as when he played the iconic lawyer Will Kane in a 2000 remake of Midi top for the TBS.
Skerritt’s breakthrough came in the 1970 feature film CRUSH. As Southern surgeon Duke Forrest, he opens the film by stealing a jeep with co-conspirator Hawkeye Pierce (Donald Sutherland) to take them to the mobile hospital where they are tasked with treating American soldiers injured during the Korean War.
Once there, the two men team up with trapper John McIntrye (Elliott Gould) and begin to question any rigid army regulations that prevent them from drinking and womanizing.
The freewheeling, anti-establishment comedy, directed by Robert Altman, was one of the most popular films of the year and led to the long-running CBS series of the same name. Oddly enough, Skerritt’s character was one of the few not included in the small screen adaptation; nevertheless, the role proved that the actor had star power.
The Detroit native thanked Altman for giving him the freedom to create the character. “I loved this guy from the start. He made me realize early on that you could do no wrong, as long as you tried,” Skerritt said in Mitchell Zuckoff’s 2009 book. Robert Altman: the oral biography. “The worst thing you could do was make a fool of yourself. And that’s the first thing you have to be willing to do as an actor, be willing to make a fool of yourself. Bob gave me that.”
After his success with CRUSHSkerritt started getting work in more films — Wild Rovers (1971), Down (1972), Big Bad Mom (1974) and Ice castles (1978) among them. He worked again with Altman in Thieves like us (1974) and had a wacky turn in Cheech & Chong’s In smoke (1978) as Strawberry, a shell-shocked, pot-dealing Vietnam veteran.
Skerritt had originally turned down the role of Captain Dallas of the doomed spaceship Nostromo in Stranger (1979) after fears that the film’s budget would be swallowed up by special effects. However, he reconsidered after learning that Ridley Scott had signed on to direct.
As Skerritt recalled in an interview for the 2001 television documentary Extraterrestrial evolution“Wait here, let me see. I heard about this guy Ridley Scott, I heard he did this thing called The Duelists (Scott’s first feature film in 1977). “Can I see this?” And they said, “Yes, we’ll do a screening for you tomorrow.” » So I went to see The Duelists. And it was a masterpiece. I mean, I’ve never seen a picture that captures as much production value as The Duelists. Magnificent film, a picture from start to finish. So I had to do Stranger at that time.
For four seasons on CBS starting in 1992, Skerritt starred in the David E. Kelley series. Picket fences as the sheriff of fictional Rome, Wisconsin, the voice of calm amid the madness. Skerritt, who played the town doctor’s (Kathy Baker) husband and father of three, won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1993 and was nominated again the following year.
In the sixth season of Cheershe played Rebecca Howe’s (Kirstie Alley) ultra-suave ex-boss Evan Drake and played Sally Field’s deceased husband William in Siblings. And he appeared as himself in a hilarious cameo in the 2012 comedy Ted.
And in 2021, he landed a rare starring role in a feature film where he plays a retired and recently widowed heart surgeon who learns he has terminal cancer. East of the mountains.
Thomas Roy Skerritt was born August 25, 1933 in Motor City. After graduating from Mackenzie High School in 1951, he enlisted in the Air Force, hoping to see the world. Instead, lacking the skills to become a pilot, he spent most of his time in uniform in Austin as a classification specialist. Skerritt then returned to his hometown to study English at Wayne State University.
Deciding to pursue a career as a writer or director, Skerritt transferred to UCLA, where he also did theater in an attempt to overcome his shyness. He never imagined he could make a living from it.
“I thought I would continue writing and acting if I were to become a director,” Skerritt said. Film commentary in 2016. “I happened to be seen as an actor and I was hired for a small, low-budget film and I thought, ‘Hey, this is a great way to learn how to be a director, to participate in the real reality of making a film.’
“You can’t become a filmmaker just by going to college, as you know. The practical knowledge, the street knowledge that you can get from being on set, from being there, from being close to the way people talk, the way they approach the business, was really the advantage that I saw there from the beginning.”
The low-budget film was War hunting (1962). His producers, Terry and Denis Sanders, had seen Skerritt in a community stage production and offered him a job. The drama, starring John Saxon, Sydney Pollack, Redford and Gavin MacLeod, was, as CRUSHwhich takes place during the Korean War.
Skerritt’s appeal in front of the camera could not be denied, and he easily found more acting work. Throughout the 1960s he appeared in episodes of Laramie, The real McCoys, Alfred Hitchcock presents, My three sons, Wagon train, Journey to the bottom of the sea, The time tunnel And Mannix.
The shows Death Valley Days, Gun smoke, The FBI, The fugitive, 12 o’clock high, Fight!, Bargain And The Virginian featured him several times in different roles.
After befriending director Hal Ashby, Skerrit appeared in Harold and Maude (1971) as a motorcycle cop. (Skerritt stepped in to play the small role as a favor after an on-set accident forced an actor to withdraw.) When asked about a credit, he chose to use Martin Bormann instead of his real name.
“We did stupid things then, and we still do,” he told Film Comment. “And I said, ‘You know, Martin Bormann, Hitler’s second in command, no one ever found out what happened to this guy. They were able to find everyone else, but this guy just disappeared.’ I said, ‘You know, I think he went to Oakland and became a motorcycle cop.’ »
His other notable film credits included Wild harvest (1981), The dead zone (1983), Space Camp (1986), Made to order (1987), The rookie (1990), Steel Magnolias (1989), Contact (1997), The other sister (1999), Tears of the sun (2003), Bonneville (2006), Road to Redemption (2010), A hologram for the king (2016) and Day of days (2017).
Skerritt has also appeared on television Kolchak: the night stalker, Cannon, Barnabas Jones, CRUSH, Barrette, Chicago Hope, Will and grace, The west wing, The grid, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, Blow, Leverage, The good wife And Madam Secretary.
Survivors include his third wife, Julie Tokashiki, whom he married in 1998; his children, Andy, Erin, Matt, Collin and Emiko; grandchildren Sara, Maddison, Sunny, Louisa and Georgia; and great-grandchildren Marigold and Ravi.
Skerritt helped launch TheFilmSchool in Seattle to support the next generation of filmmakers and storytellers. This commitment extended to the Red Badge Project, which he co-founded to help veterans overcome PTSD, anxiety and depression by writing and sharing their experiences.
His passion for service included protecting the natural world. Inspired in part by A river runs through ithe helped create and champion Reflections of the River, a documentary series exploring the health of America’s rivers and the urgent need to protect them. He also supported river conservation through partnerships with the Wildlands Festival, American Rivers and the Gallatin River Task Force.
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