Tom Skerritt, the Emmy-winning actor whose decades-long career spanned “M*A*S*H,” “Alien,” “Top Gun” and “Picket Fences,” has died at age 93.
His family told PEOPLE he died of natural causes on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026.
“Our family is deeply saddened to share that Tom Skerritt passed away on October 21, 2026, from natural causes,” his family said in a statement. “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 statement continued.
A career spanning six decades
Thomas Roy Skerritt was born Aug. 25, 1933, in Detroit. After graduating from Mackenzie High School in 1951, he enlisted in the Air Force hoping to become a pilot, but instead spent most of his service in Austin as a classification specialist. He later returned home to study English at Wayne State University.
Skerritt went on to study at UCLA, where a 1962 low-budget film, “War Hunt,” launched his acting career. Over more than 60 years, he appeared in more than 100 film and television projects.
His credits include Southern surgeon Duke Forrest in “M*A*S*H” (1970), Captain Dallas in “Alien” (1979), Air Force instructor Commander Mike “Viper” Metcalf in “Top Gun” (1986), and Presbyterian minister and patriarch Rev. McClean in “A River Runs Through It” (1992). He also appeared in “Wild Rovers” (1971), “Fuzz” (1972), “Big Bad Mama” (1974), “Ice Castles” (1978), “Thieves Like Us” (1974), and Cheech & Chong’s “Up in Smoke” (1978), in which he played Strawberry, a shell-shocked, pot-dealing Vietnam veteran.
On television, Skerritt won a 1993 Emmy Award for his role as Sheriff Jimmy Brock on the David E. Kelley series “Picket Fences,” and received additional award nominations across his career.
Advocacy beyond acting
Skerritt helped found Seattle’s TheFilmSchool to support emerging filmmakers and storytellers, and co-founded the Red Badge Project, which helps veterans work through PTSD, anxiety and depression through writing and shared storytelling.
Drawing partly on his role in “A River Runs Through It,” Skerritt became an advocate for environmental causes, helping create the documentary series “Reflections of the River,” which examined the health of America’s rivers. He also partnered with the Wildlands Festival, American Rivers and the Gallatin River Task Force on river conservation efforts.
Skerritt is survived by his wife of 28 years, Julie Tokashiki, as well as five children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
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