- Born
- Birth nameThomas Roy Skerritt
- Height6′ (1.83 m)
- Lean, ruggedly handsome leading man and supporting actor whose "outdoor" looks have improved with age, Tom Skerritt attended Wayne State University and UCLA. He was first noticed in a UCLA production of "The Rainmaker" before making his movie debut in War Hunt (1962). However, he spent most of the next decade in television, regularly appearing in Combat! (1962), The Virginian (1962), Gunsmoke (1955) and 12 O'Clock High (1964). Skerritt's next big break was appearing alongside Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould in Robert Altman's biting satire M*A*S*H (1970). Several other film roles quickly followed, before he landed the plum role of Capt. Dallas of the ill-fated commercial towing vehicle Nostromo in the creepy sci-fi epic Alien (1979).
Skerritt turned up again in another thriller playing a cop hunting a serial killer in the eerie The Dead Zone (1983), as a Navy Officer Flight instructor in Top Gun (1986) , in the six-chick flick Steel Magnolias (1989), and then as the poster boy for a "Guess" Jeans ad campaign utilizing his mature, weather-beaten features. Skerritt didn't neglect his TV background and reappeared on the small screen in Cheers (1982), The China Lake Murders (1990) and picked up an Emmy in 1994 for his performance as Sheriff Brock in the superb series Picket Fences (1992).
Skerritt has remained continually busy for the past decade, contributing natural, entertaining and reliable performances in TV series, made-for-TV movies and major theatrical releases. He recreated the role of Will Kane in the TV production of High Noon (2000), and appeared alongside Bruce Willis in the mercenary war drama Tears of the Sun (2003).
- IMDb mini biography by: firehouse44
- SpousesJulie Tokashiki(1998 - present)Susan Ellen Aran(1976 - July 31, 1990) (divorced, 1 child)Charlotte R Shanks(1957 - December 1972) (divorced, 3 children)
- ChildrenAndy SkerrittErin Skerritt
- ParentsHelen SkerritRoy Skeritt
- His moustache
- Served in the United States Air Force.
- He has appeared in six films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: M*A*S*H (1970), Harold and Maude (1971), Up in Smoke (1978), Alien (1979), Top Gun (1986) and Smoke Signals (1998).
- Co-founded the Red Badge Project which helps veterans suffering from PTSD.
- Seldom seen on stage, Tom appeared with the late Lee Remick in a performance of "Love Letters" in 1990, her last appearance before her death from cancer. He also performed in the same play with Kathy Baker for several benefits in the Los Angeles area. In 2004 he returned once more as the Stage Manager in a Seattle production of "Our Town".
- Attended Wayne State University in Detroit Michigan.
- It's concentration and luck. There are many prominent people in this business who choose certain types of pictures and play a derivation of a certain character they always play so they are immediately identifiable -- and they are commercially successful because of it. I have never pursued that. I just do films that I would pay five bucks to see.
- I have never really capitalized effectively on the successful films I have appeared in. And I have been in some pretty damn good films. What it comes down to is what someone told me years ago -- if you have one hit and the next two are not successful, then you have to start from scratch again. That's what happened to me. It's like a game, I suppose, and I've been doing OK.
- Everything that we do in films comes down to being able to tell a story well
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