Tom Skerritt, Viper in Top Gun, Dies at 93
The American actor, Captain Dallas in Alien and the sheriff in Picket Fences, died Wednesday at 93. His family cites natural causes.
American actor Tom Skerritt died on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, and his publicist confirmed the news to CBS News on Thursday. He was 93, born on August 25, 1933. In a statement, his family said he died of natural causes. According to Wikipedia, he died at his home in Seattle.
Skerritt is remembered as Captain Dallas, commander of the ship Nostromo in Alien (1979), and as flight instructor Mike “Viper” Metcalf in Top Gun (1986). Over six decades he collected more than 170 film and television roles, and his last film, Broke, came out in 2025.
What did his family say?
CBS News carries the family’s statement in full:
“We are heartbroken by his passing. The world knew Tom for an extraordinary acting career, and we knew him for the humor, curiosity, wisdom, generosity and love he brought into our lives.”
He is survived by his third wife, Julie Tokashiki, and five children. Telegraf reports that he also leaves five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
From Detroit to a first role
Skerritt grew up in Detroit. He served four years in the US Air Force, studied at Wayne State University, and then moved to UCLA to study film. A stage production of The Rainmaker in Los Angeles led him to his first film role.
He made his debut in 1962 in the independent war film War Hunt. Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier and Francis Ford Coppola also made their debuts in it. Redford and Skerritt competed for the same lead role, and Redford got it. Years later, as a director, Redford made it up to him by casting him as Reverend John Maclean in A River Runs Through It (1992).
Redford, who died last year, remained his friend to the end. He told the Seattle Times in 2007:
“His values were close to mine, and he kept his integrity.”
Alien, Top Gun and the sheriff of Picket Fences
After the debut came a string of small roles. He appeared in M*A*S*H and in Harold and Maude. His role in The Turning Point (1977) earned him an award from the National Board of Review. Alien followed, with Skerritt as Captain Dallas. Other roles singled out by Telegraf are Steel Magnolias, where he played Sally Field’s husband, and Contact.
On Cheers he played Evan Drake. His biggest award came for Sheriff Jimmy Brock in Picket Fences, which ran from 1992 to 1996. That role won him the 1993 Emmy for lead actor in a drama series. He was nominated twice, both times for the same show. His on-screen wife, a doctor, was played by Kathy Baker, and the story was set in the fictional town of Rome, Wisconsin. Over four years the series won 14 Emmys, one of which went to Skerritt.
In Top Gun he played an instructor at the US Navy’s elite pilot school, and in Alien a besieged captain doomed to die, hunting the creature with a flamethrower in a dark, cramped ventilation shaft.
In 1997 he told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer about himself:
“A writer once described me as a character actor trapped in a leading man’s body, and I’ve always loved that.”
Humanitarian work
Telegraf reports that in 2012 he helped found the Red Badge project, which helps military veterans return to civilian life through storytelling and creative work.
