Emmy-winning actor Tom Skerritt, known for roles in Alien and Picket Fences, dies at 93

A career across screens

Skerritt’s career included a flight instructor in “Top Gun,” the captain of the Nostromo in “Alien,” and the sheriff in “Picket Fences.” He also appeared in “The Turning Point,” “Steel Magnolias” and “Contact.” He received two Emmy nominations, both for “Picket Fences,” and won for lead actor in a drama series in 1993. The show ran from 1992 to 1996 and won 14 Emmy Awards, including one for Skerritt.

From Detroit to film

Skerritt grew up in Detroit and served four years in the Air Force. He attended Wayne State University before moving to the University of California, Los Angeles, to study filmmaking after seeing “Citizen Kane.” A Los Angeles theater performance in “The Rainmaker” helped lead to his first film role, as a sergeant in the 1962 independent film “War Hunt.” The movie also marked early screen appearances for Robert Redford, Sydney Pollack and Francis Ford Coppola.

A lasting partnership

Redford and Skerritt competed for the lead in “War Hunt,” which went to Redford. Years later, Redford cast Skerritt as the stern Rev. John Maclean in “A River Runs Through It.”

Redford described their bond as a friendship built on shared values and integrity in a 2007 interview with the Seattle Times. The two remained lifelong friends; Redford died last year.