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Tom Skerritt
Skerritt in 2014
Born	Thomas Roy Skerritt (1933-08-25) August 25, 1933 (age 91) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Alma mater	Wayne State University University of California, Los Angeles
Occupations	Actor director
Years active	1962–present
Spouses	Charlotte Shanks ​ ​(m. 1957; div. 1972)​ Sue Oran ​ ​(m. 1977; div. 1992)​ Julie Tokashiki ​ ​(m. 1998)​
Children	5
Military career
Allegiance	United States of America
Service / branch	United States Air Force
Years of service	1951–1955

Thomas Roy Skerritt (born August 25, 1933) is an American actor and director, who has appeared in over 170 film and television productions since 1962. The beginning of his film career coincided with the New Hollywood movement, with a breakthrough role as Duke Forrest in Robert Altman's M*A*S*H. He then starred in notable films like The Turning Point, Up in Smoke, Ice Castles, Alien, The Dead Zone, Top Gun, and A River Runs Through It.

On television, Skerritt played the leading role of Sheriff Jimmy Brock on the family drama Picket Fences (1992-96), earning a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, as well as two Golden Globe Award nominations. He also had a recurring role as Evan Drake on the sixth season of sitcom Cheers (1987-88).

Skerritt is also a three-time Screen Actors Guild Award nominee, a Genie Award nominee, and a Saturn Award winner. In 2022, he received the International Press Academy's honorary Mary Pickford Award for "Outstanding Artistic Contribution to the Entertainment Industry."

Early life

Skerritt was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Helen, a homemaker, and Roy Skerritt, a businessman. He is the youngest of three children. A 1951 graduate of Detroit's Mackenzie High School, Skerritt attended Wayne State University and the University of California, Los Angeles.

Skerritt enlisted just after graduating from high school, and served a four-year tour of duty in the United States Air Force as a classifications specialist. Most of his enlistment was spent at Bergstrom Field, Austin, Texas.

Career

Skerritt made his film debut in War Hunt, produced by Terry Sanders and released in 1962. Skerritt's notable film appearances include M*A*S*H (1970), Harold and Maude (credited as "M. Borman", 1971), Fuzz, Big Bad Mama, Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke (1978), Ice Castles (1978), as Captain Dallas in Alien (1979), as a would-be astronaut in Contact (1997) and SpaceCamp (1986), and in Top Gun (1986) as Commander Mike "Viper" Metcalf. In 1988, he starred with Nancy Allen and Lara Flynn Boyle in Poltergeist III. In 1989, he played the role of Thomas Drummond "Drum" Eatenton in Steel Magnolias. In 1992, he appeared in the critically acclaimed Robert Redford-directed film A River Runs Through It, playing a fly-fishing loving minister and father of the two protagonist brothers in the film.

Skerritt played a guest part in Ray Walston's show My Favorite Martian in the 1963 episode "Mrs. Jekyll and Hyde" (Walston was a regular cast member thirty years later in Skerritt's show Picket Fences). He also guest-starred in the television series The Real McCoys (1963), as a letter carrier in the episode "Aunt Win Steps In". He was cast in Bonanza in 1964 and in Death Valley Days in 1965, as a young gambler, Patrick Hogan, who meets a tragic fate after winning a small fortune in a saloon. In another Death Valley Days episode, "A Sense of Justice" (1966), he played a young Roy Bean with his elder brother, Joshua Bean, played by Tris Coffin. In a later Death Valley Days role, Skerritt played Mark Twain in the 1968 episode "Ten Day Millionaires", with Dabney Coleman as Twain's mining partner, Calvin H. Higby. The two lose a fortune in gold, but Twain learns his future is in writing. In 1972, Skerritt guest-starred in an episode of Cannon, titled "Nobody Beats the House", playing the role of a young gambler. In 1975, he guest-starred in another episode of Cannon titled "The Conspirators", playing the role of a corrupt sheriff.

His agent, Meyer Mishkin, recounted in a 1978 Los Angeles Times profile that Skerritt was relegated to a series of obscure European westerns after his early 1970s film success. Mishkin took credit for obtaining for Skerritt his co-starring role in The Turning Point (1977), salvaging his career.

Skerritt appeared in the ABC series Twelve O'Clock High (1964–1967, five episodes); Gunsmoke (1965–1972, also five episodes), and as Evan Drake on Cheers. He then appeared in CBS's Picket Fences (1992–1996), in the role of Sheriff Jimmy Brock, for which he won an Emmy Award. More recently, he has starred in Homeland Security and The Grid.

He portrayed the deceased William Walker in Brothers & Sisters, having appeared in the pilot and several flashbacks scenes. This was his second time playing the husband of a character played by Sally Field; the first was in Steel Magnolias.

He played the role of Ezekiel in ABC Family's miniseries Fallen alongside Paul Wesley. He also appeared as the guide on the showcase website for Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system. He lent his voice in the video game Gun (2005), in which he voices Clay Allison. He then guest-starred in seasons three and four of Leverage as Nate Ford's father.

In February 2012, Skerritt played the title role in Pacific Northwest Ballet's production of Don Quixote. In 2014, Skerritt was reunited with his ex-Picket Fences co-star, Lauren Holly, to star with her in Field of Lost Shoes. He was reunited with his Alien co-star Harry Dean Stanton in Lucky, the latter's last film (2017).

In 1974, Skerrit portrayed Senator Robert Palmer in "The Devil's Platform", episode 7 of Kolchak: The Night Stalker.

Personal life

Skerritt is founder and chairman of Heyou Media, a Seattle-based digital media company.

From 1957 to 1972, Skerritt was married to Charlotte Shanks, with whom he has three children. He was married to Sue Oran from 1977 to 1992, with whom he has a son. Since 1996, he has been married to Julie Tokashiki. They have one daughter.

Filmography

Films

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

1. Dietrich, William (May 7, 2007). "A Familiar Face". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on April 25, 2007.
2. "Tom Skerritt Biography (1933-)". www.filmreference.com.
3. "Tom Skerritt Biography - Yahoo! Movies". Archived from the original on January 13, 2009.
4. ^ Schneider, Karen S. (April 17, 1995). "Fencing Master". People.
5. "Notable alumni actors". UCLA School of Theater, Film and television. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
6. Sragow, Michael (April 29, 2016). "Interview: Tom Skerritt". Film Comment.
7. "Ridley Scott Dishes the Dirt on the Upcoming Alien Prequel". Dread Central. April 23, 2010. Archived from the original on April 25, 2010.
8. "Cannon" Nobody Beats the House (TV Episode 1972) - IMDb, retrieved September 21, 2021
9. "Cannon" The Conspirators (TV Episode 1975) - IMDb, retrieved September 21, 2021
10. Grant, Lee (March 13, 1978). "For His Actors---Such a Deal". The Los Angeles Times. p. 54. Retrieved December 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
11. Bryant, Adam (May 28, 2010). "Exclusive: Look Who's Playing Nate's Dad on Leverage". TV Guide. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
12. La Rocco, Claudia (February 6, 2012). "Ratmansky's 'Don Quixote' Has Premiere in Seattle". The New York Times. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
13. "David Arquette, Lauren Holly Join Civil War Drama 'Field of Lost Shoes'". Hollywood Reporter. June 4, 2013. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
14. "Tom Skerritt can't stop creating, and launches Heyou Media to showcase classic films and local talent". The Seattle Times. January 31, 2018. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
15. "Overview for Tom Skerritt". Tcm.com. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
16. Brodeur, Nicole (December 9, 2012). "Tom Skerritt: 'You see how it feels to just unravel'". The Seattle Times. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
17. Dietrich, William (April 15, 2007). "A Familiar Face". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
18. ^ "Tom Skerritt". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on August 25, 2024. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
19. ^ "Tom Skerritt List of Movies and TV Shows". TV Guide. Archived from the original on August 25, 2024. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
20. ^ "Tom Skerritt (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
21. "TOM SKERRITT". Television Academy. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
22. "Tom Skerritt". www.goldenglobes.com. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
23. "The Inaugural Screen Actors Guild Awards | Screen Actors Guild Awards". www.sagawards.org. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
24. "The 2nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards | Screen Actors Guild Awards". www.sagawards.org. Retrieved April 5, 2022.

External links

• Tom Skerritt at IMDb 
• Tom Skerritt at the TCM Movie Database

• 20th-century American male actors
• 21st-century American male actors
• 1933 births
• American male film actors
• American male television actors
• Living people
• Mackenzie High School (Michigan) alumni
• Male actors from Detroit
• Male actors from Seattle
• Military personnel from Detroit
• Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
• UCLA Film School alumni
• United States Air Force airmen
• Wayne State University alumni