Tom Skerritt, ‘Alien’ and ‘Top Gun’ actor, dies aged 93

Tom Skerritt, the Alien and Top Gun actor, died aged 93 from natural causes, his publicist told Variety. He built a career of more than 60 years and more than 170 big- and small-screen credits, winning an Emmy and earning Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations.

A family statement shared with People read:

“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.”

After serving a four-year tour of duty in the US Air Force, Skerritt made his big-screen debut in the 1962 war film War Hunt alongside Robert Redford and Sydney Pollack. His breakout came in Robert Altman’s 1970 satire M*A*SH*, a box-office hit nominated for the best-picture Oscar.

The 1970s broadened his range:

• the cult black comedy Harold and Maude;
• Altman’s crime drama Thieves Like Us;
• Roger Corman’s sexploitation comedy Big Bad Mama;
• the Oscar-nominated ballet drama The Turning Point.

The decade closed with Ridley Scott’s hit Alien. Skerritt had earlier turned down the film because of its low budget. In a 2019 interview, he explained:

“At two million bucks and with other actors that I don’t know about, this is a film that could have been directed by Ed Wood,” he said.

“I was uncertain about it because my training with Altman and Ashby had proceeded me, so I had that approach that I had absorbed from watching those two guys going about their work.”

His reasoning tied the decision to production scale and working method. He compared the budget and unknown cast with what he had absorbed from Altman and Ashby.

In the 1980s, Skerritt appeared in:

• David Cronenberg’s The Dead Zone;
• the science-fiction adventure SpaceCamp;
• the horror sequel Poltergeist III;
• the female-led comedy drama Steel Magnolias.

Skerritt also worked with Tony Scott on the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, a role he almost did not get. He described the casting friction this way:

“There was some question about me playing that role because I was … I think they used the word, laconic,” he said in a 2021 interview with Vulture.

“It pissed me off. I went into it with [producer] Don Simpson, who was still alive at that point … don’t tell me, as a producer, what you think I’m going to be doing. You’re going to get what you need.”

Laconic, meaning using very few words, was the casting doubt he resisted. His objection was to a producer trying to dictate his performance in advance; his answer was to supply what the role needed.

In the 1990s, Skerritt reunited with Robert Redford in A River Runs Through It. He also starred with Jodie Foster in Contact, Drew Barrymore in Poison Ivy and Diane Keaton in The Other Sister.

He won an Emmy for his role in David E Kelley’s family drama Picket Fences, which ran for four seasons. He also kept a television career alongside his film work, appearing in Will & Grace, The West Wing and Brothers & Sisters during the 2000s.

The 2000s also brought Tears of the Sun with Bruce Willis and Whiteout with Kate Beckinsale. His last film role came in the western drama Broke in 2025, alongside Dennis Quaid.

In 2012, Skerritt co-founded an initiative called the Red Badge Project. It aimed to help veterans process PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) through storytelling.

Skerritt told CBS News: “It starts with that wanting to help someone else rather than talking about it,” he said. “I just got tired of talking about this if I could do something about it.”

Skerritt offered his own assessment in 2021: “I’m just a lucky guy, man,” he said. “Strength is measured in how you confront your weaknesses. I have had a lot of weaknesses. I still have them.”

What does this change for veteran storytelling?

Skerritt’s death removes him from the Red Badge Project’s public advocacy. No leadership or operational update for the initiative accompanies his death, so the practical change is the loss of a visible advocate, not an announced institutional break. For veterans, it means losing one public example of turning personal experience into help for others.

The Red Badge Project now has to show that it can continue without Skerritt. His test was simple: help someone else rather than keep talking about the problem.