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Top Gun actor Skerritt dies at 93
He played Commander Mike "Viper" Metcalf alongside Tom Cruise in "Top Gun." In "Alien" he played spaceship captain Dallas. Now the actor Tom Skerritt has died at the age of 93
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Mourning for actor “Top Gun” actor Skerritt dies at 93 As of: October 23, 2026 • 8:05 a.m
He played Commander Mike "Viper" Metcalf alongside Tom Cruise in "Top Gun." In "Alien" he played spaceship captain Dallas. Now the actor Tom Skerritt has died at the age of 93.
US actor Tom Skerritt has died at the age of 93. Skerritt was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1933 and began his acting career in the 1960s. He made his film debut in 1962 alongside Robert Redford in the war film "Behind Enemy Lines". Director Robert Altman brought him in front of the camera with Donald Sutherland in 1970 for the award-winning war farce "MASH".
In the science fiction classic "Alien" from 1979, Skerritt played spaceship captain Dallas and in "Top Gun" he played Commander Metcalf. In the 1989 drama "Steel Magnolias" he and Sally Field played the parents of a terminally ill daughter, portrayed by Julia Roberts. Oscar winner Roberts paid her deepest tribute to her film father on Instagram. Skerritt is "a shining example of a gentle man," she wrote about a shared photo - with a broken heart emoji.
In 1992, directed by Robert Redford, Skerritt took on the role of a clergyman in rural Montana in the 1920s who raises his two sons strictly. Brad Pitt appeared in one of his first leading roles as the rebellious son Paul. The film is one of his “absolute favorite projects,” wrote Skerritt on Instagram in 2022.
The actor also appeared in numerous television productions during his long career. He had the greatest success with the role of the oddball sheriff Jimmy Brock in the drama series "Picket Fences", which ran in the USA from 1992 to 1996. The role earned Skerritt an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1993.
The following year he was nominated again for the coveted television award. His family's statement said Skerritt deeply cared about imagination, creativity, nature and storytelling. While he will be remembered by the world as an outstanding actor, those closest to him will remember him for his humor, curiosity, wisdom and generosity.
This topic in the program: NDR Info | News | Oct 23, 2026 | 07:00 am