Tom Skerritt

Thomas Roy Skerritt (born August 25, 1933) is an American actor who has appeared in more than 40 films and more than 200 television episodes since 1962. He is known for his film roles in M*A*S*H, Alien, The Dead Zone, Top Gun, A River Runs Through It, Up in Smoke, and the television series Picket Fences. Skerritt has earned several nominations and awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1993 for Picket Fences.

Tom Skerritt
Skerritt at the Phoenix Comicon Fan Fest, December 2014
Born	August 25, 1933 Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Alma mater	Wayne State University University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1962–present
Spouse(s)	Charlotte Shanks ​ ​ (m. 1957⁠–⁠1972)​ 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

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.[1][2][3][4] A 1951 graduate of Detroit's Mackenzie High School,[4] Skerritt attended Wayne State University and the University of California, Los Angeles.[5]

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.[6]

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), Big Bad Mama, Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke (1978), Ice Castles (1978), as Captain Dallas in Alien (1979),[7] 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-fish 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 (1963) in the 1963 episode "Mrs. Jekyll and Hyde" (Walston was a regular cast member 30 years later in Skerritt's show, Picket Fences (1992)). 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 on 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 older brother, Joshua Bean, played by Tris Coffin.[8] 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.[9]

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 on Brothers and Sisters, having appeared in the pilot as well as in several flashbacks scenes. This was his second time playing the husband of Sally Field, the first having been in Steel Magnolias.

He played the role of Ezekiel on 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), where he voices Clay Allison. He then guest-starred in seasons three and four of Leverage as Nate Ford's father.[10]

In February 2012, Skerritt played the title role in Pacific Northwest Ballet's production of Don Quixote.[11] In 2014, Skerritt was reunited with ex-Picket Fences co-star, Lauren Holly, to star with her in Field of Lost Shoes.[12] He starred in his Alien co-star Harry Dean Stanton's final film Lucky (2017).

Skerritt is founder and chairman of Heyou Media, a Seattle-based digital media company.[13]

Personal life

Since 1988, he has divided his domestic life between his Lake Washington home in suburban Seattle, Washington, and a second home on Lopez Island[lower-alpha 1] in the San Juan Islands.

Skerritt's first wife, Charlotte, is the mother of Skerritt's three older children. His second wife, Sue, operates a Seattle bed and breakfast. She and Skerritt had one child, Colin. Skerritt has one daughter, Emi, with his current wife, Julie Tokashiki.[15][16]

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1962	War Hunt	Sgt. Stan Showalter
1964	One Man's Way	Leonard Peal (Grown)
1965	Those Calloways	Whit Turner
1970	MASH	Capt. Augustus Bedford 'Duke' Forrest
1971	Wild Rovers	John Buckman
	Harold and Maude	Motorcycle Officer	Credited as M. Borman
1972	Fuzz	Detective Bert Kling
1974	Thieves Like Us	Dee Mobley
	Run, Run, Joe!	Margherito
	Big Bad Mama	Fred Diller
	The Night Stalker	Senator Robert (Bob) Palmer
1975	The Devil's Rain	Tom Preston
1976	Plot of Fear	Chief Inspector
	Madama, La	Rick Dylan
1977	The Turning Point	Wayne Rodgers
1978	Up in Smoke	Strawberry
	Ice Castles	Marcus Winston
1979	Alien	Arthur Dallas	DVDX Award for Best Audio Commentary (New for DVD) (2003 re-issue in Alien Quadrilogy, shared with Ridley Scott, Ronald Shusett, Terry Rawlings, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton and John Hurt)
1981	A Dangerous Summer	Howard Anderson
	Savage Harvest	Casey
	Silence of the North	Walter Reamer
1982	Fighting Back	John D'Angelo
1983	The Dead Zone	Sheriff George Bannerman
1986	Top Gun	Cmdr. Mike 'Viper' Metcalf
	SpaceCamp	Zach Bergstrom
	Opposing Force	Logan
	Wisdom	Lloyd Wisdom
1987	Maid to Order	Charles Montgomery
	The Big Town	Phil Carpenter
1988	Honor Bound	Sam Cahill
	Nightmare at Bittercreek	Ding
	Poltergeist III	Bruce Gardner
1989	Big Man on Campus	Dr. Webster
	Steel Magnolias	Drum Eatenton
1990	The Rookie	Eugene Ackerman
1992	Poison Ivy	Darryl Cooper
	Knight Moves	Captain Frank Sedman
	Wild Orchid 2: Two Shades of Blue	Ham McDonald	Direct-to-video release
	A River Runs Through It	Reverend John Maclean
	Singles	Mayor Weber
1997	Contact	David Drumlin
1998	Smoke Signals	Police Chief
1999	The Other Sister	Dr. Radley Tate
2001	Texas Rangers	Richard Dukes
2002	Tuscaloosa
	Changing Hearts	Johnny Pinkley
	Greenmail	Tom Bradshaw	Direct-to-video release
2003	Tears of the Sun	Captain Bill Rhodes
	Swing	George Verdi
2006	Bonneville	Emmett
2007	The Velveteen Rabbit	Horse
2008	Beer for My Horses	Sheriff Wilson Landry
2009	Whiteout	Dr. John Fury
	For Sale by Owner	Clive Farrier
	Rivers of a Lost Coast	Narrator
2010	Redemption Road	Santa
2011	Your Love Never Fails	Jack
2012	Ted	Himself
2013	Redwood Highway	Pete
2014	Field of Lost Shoes	Ulysses S. Grant
2016	A Hologram for the King	Ron
2017	Lucky	Fred
	Day of Days[17]	Mr. Walter

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1962–1967	Combat!	Soldier (uncredited) Glinski (uncredited) Hicks Burke Sgt. Decker	Episode: Combat Front Episode: A Day in June Episode: The Prisoner Episode: Losers Cry Deal Episode: Nothing to Lose Episode: The Gantlet
1962–1971	The Virginian	Eric Kroeger Rev. Paul Martin Billy Landers Moran Rafe Bobby Allen	Episode: Impasse (aired 1962) Episode: The Secret of Brynmar Hall Episode: The Showdown Episode: The Crooked Path Episode: The Saddle Warmer Episode: Nan Allen
1963	Laramie		Episode: No Place to Run
	The Real McCoys	Mailman	Episode: Aunt Win Steps In
	The Alfred Hitchcock Hour	Dr. Frank Farmer	Episode: Run for Doom
	My Three Sons	Young Steve	Episode: The Proposals
1963–1968	Death Valley Days	Emmett Dalton (capture in Coffeyville, Kansas) Patrick Hogan Sam Clemens	Episode: Three Minutes to Eternity Episode: Honor the Name Dennis Driscoll Episode: The Book Episode: Sense of Justice Episode: Ten Day Millionaires
1964	Wagon Train	Hamish Browne	Episode: The Last Circle Up
	My Favorite Martian	Dr. Edgar Edgarton	Episode: Miss Jekyll and Hyde
1964–1967	12 O'Clock High	Lt. Ryan Lt. Parmalee Sgt. Ben Rodale Lt. Paddy Gialella Tech. Sgt. Neely	Episode: Soldiers Sometimes Kill Episode: Those Who Are About to Die Episode: The Came the Mighty Hunter Episode: Twenty Fifth Mission Episode: Long Time Dead
1964, 1973	Bonanza	Jerry Corporal Bill Tanner	Episode: Thanks for Everything, Friend Episode: The Hunter
1965	Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea	Frank Richardson	Episode: The Enemies
	Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color	Corky Mardis	Episode: ...The Daily Press vs. City Hall
1965, 1966	The Fugitive	Neely Hollister Pete Edwards	Episode: Nicest Fella You'd Ever Want to Meet Episode: Joshua's Kingdom
1965–1972	Gunsmoke	Edmund Dano Ben Stone Orv Timpson Fred Garth Tuck Frye	Episode: The Pretender Episode: The Jailer Episode: The Moonstone Episode: The Noose Episode: Jubilee
1966	The Time Tunnel	Matthew Gebhardt	Episode: The Death Trap
1966–1972	The F.B.I.	Robert Hastings John Clarence Rim Thorn Hazard Bill Leonard	Episode: The Assassin Episode: The Legend of John Rim Episode: Unknown Victim Episode: The Deadly Species
1967	Mannix	Morgan Carpenter	Episode: Warning - Live Blueberries
	Hallmark Hall of Fame	Trapani	Episode: A Bell for Adano
1968	Cimarron Strip	Enoch Shelton	Episode: Knife in the Darkness
	Run for Your Life	Lou Patterson	Episode: The Killing Scene
	Felony Squad	Gerald Gardner	Episode: Matched for Murder
1969	The Outsider	Arnie Cambor	Episode: A Bowl of Cherries
	Lancer	Bill Blake	Episode: The Knot
1970	Hawaii Five-O	Lew Morgan	Episode: Most Likely to Murder
	Medical Center	Artie Atwood	Episode: Between Dark and Daylight
	The Name of the Game	Pete	Episode: Cynthia is Alive and Living in Avalon
	Bracken's World	Gil Dobie	Episode: A Team of One-Legged Acrobats
1971	Storefront Lawyers	Paul Marek	Episode: This Money Kills Dreams
	The Birdmen	Orville 'Fitz' Fitzgerald	ABC Television film
	Nichols		Episode: The Marrying Fool
1971, 1972, 1975	Cannon	Dude Toby Hauser Sheriff Andrews	Episode: The Salinas Jackpot Episode: Nobody Beats the House Episode: The Conspirators
1974	Get Christie Love!		Episode: Deadly Betrayal
	Kolchak: The Night Stalker	Senator Robert W. Palmer	Episode: The Devil's Platform
	The Manhunter		Episode: Flight to Nowhere
1975	The Last Day	Bill Powers	NBC Television film
	Barnaby Jones	Darrin Addison	Episode: Image of Evil
1976	SWAT	Maynard Hill	Episode: Dragons and Owls
	Sara	Newt Johnson	Episode: "The Child Bride"
	Alle origini della mafia	Bernardino Campo	ITC Miniseries Episode: La Speranza
1978	Baretta	Al Brimmer	Episode: The Appointment
	Maneaters are Loose!	John Gosford	CBS Television film
1983	Ryan's Four	Dr. Thomas Ryan
1984	Calendar Girl Murders	Lieutenant Dan Stoner	ABC Television film
	A Touch of Scandal	Father Dwelle	CBS Television film
1986	Miles to Go...	Stuart Browning	CBS Television film
	The Hitchhiker	Detective Frank Sheen	Episode: True Believer
	The Parent Trap II	Bill Grand	ABC Television film
	The Twilight Zone	Alex Mattingly	Episode: What Are Friends For?
	Danger Bay	Don Bared	Episode: The Fish Who Walks
1987	Poker Alice	Jeremy Collins	CBS Television film Based on the frontier gambler Poker Alice, with Elizabeth Taylor in the lead role
1987, 1988	Cheers	Evan Drake	Episode: A Kiss is Still a Kiss Episode: Tale of Two Cuties Episode: Yacht of Fools Episode: Let Sleeping Drakes Lie Episode: The Sam in the Grey Flannel Suit Episode: Backseat Becky, Up Front
1988	Moving Target	Joseph Kellogg	NBC Television film
	Nightmare at Bittercreek	Ding	CBS Television film
1989	The Heist	Ebbet Berens	HBO Television film
	Red King, White Knight	Stoner	HBO Television film
1990	The China Lake Murders	Sheriff Sam Brodie	Television film
	Child in the Night	Bass	CBS Television film
	ABC Afterschool Special	Jim	Episode: A Question About Sex
	She'll Take Romance	Judge Warren Danvers	ABC Television film
1992	Getting Up and Going Home	Jack Montgomery	Television film
	In Sickness and in Health	Jarrett Mattison	CBS Television film
1992–1996	Picket Fences	Sheriff Jimmy Brock
1997	Divided by Hate	Steve Riordan	USA Television film
	Chicago Hope	Jim Kellner	Episode: Guns N' Roses
	What the Deaf Man Heard	Norm Jenkins	CBS Television film
1998	Two for Texas	Sam Houston	TNT Television film
1999	Into the Wild Blue	Host	History Documentary
	The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer	Fred Maddux	NBC Miniseries
	Aftershock: Earthquake in New York	Thomas Ahearn	CBS Television film
2000	An American Daughter	Walter	Lifetime Television film
	High Noon	Will Kane	TBS Television film
	Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis	Joseph P. 'Joe' Kennedy	CBS Television film
2001	Chestnut Hill	Daniel Eastman	Unsold TV-Pilot
	The Voyage to Atlantis: The Lost Empire	Host	Short Documentary
2002	Path to War	Gen. William Westmoreland	HBO Television film
	Will & Grace	Dr. Jay Markus	Episode: The Needle and the Omelet's Done
2003	Biography	Passages Read By	Episode: Jack London - Forces of Nature
	The West Wing	Senator Chris Carrick	Episode: Constituency of One
2004	Homeland Security	Admiral McKee	NBC Television film
	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Judge Oliver Taft	Episode: Poison
	The Grid	CIA Dep. Director Acton Sandman	TNT Miniseries
2005	Vinegar Hill	Fritz Grier	CBS Television film
	Category 7: The End of the World	Colonel Mike Davis	CBS Miniseries
2006	Mammoth	Simon Abernathy	Sci-Fi Television film
	Huff	Ben Huffstodt	Episode: Red Meat Episode: So...What Brings You to Armageddon? Episode: Radio Silence
	Desperation	John Edward Marinville	ABC Television film
	Fallen	Zeke	ABC Miniseries
2006–2008	Brothers & Sisters	William Walker	Episode: Patriarchy (pilot)[18] Episode: Mistakes Were Made (Part 1 & 2) Episode: Love Is Difficult Episode: Prior Commitments Episode: Let's Call the Whole Thing Off
2007	Killer Wave	Victor Bannister	Miniseries
	The Dead Zone	Herb Smith	Episode: Denouement
2008	Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!	Himself
	Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde	Gabe Utterson	Television film
	The Trojan Horse	President Stanfield	CBC Miniseries
2010	Leverage	Jimmy Ford	Episode: "The Three Card Monte Job"
	The Closer	Joey O	Episode: "Elysian Fields"
2012	Leverage	Jimmy Ford	Episode: "The Radio Job"
	White Collar	Alan Mitchell	Episode: "Pulling Strings"
2014	The Good Wife	James Paisley	Episode: "We, the Juries" Episode: "The One Percent"
2015	Madam Secretary	Patrick McCord	Episode: "Chains of Command"
2016	Journey Back to Christmas	Tobias Cook	Television film

Video game

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2014	Alien: Isolation	Arthur Dallas	Voice; Nostromo Edition

Awards and nominations

Blockbuster Entertainment Awards

• 1998: Nominated, "Favorite Supporting Actor in a Drama" - Contact

DVD Exclusive Awards

• 2003: Won, "Best Audio Commentary" - Alien

Emmy Awards

• 1993: Won, "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series" - Picket Fences
• 1994: Nominated, "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series" - Picket Fences

Genie Awards

• 1982: Nominated, "Best Performance by a Foreign Actor" - Silence of the North

Golden Globe Awards

• 1994: Nominated, "Best Performance By an Actor in a Dramatic TV series" - Picket Fences
• 1995: Nominated, "Best Performance By an Actor in a Dramatic TV series" - Picket Fences

National Board of Review of Motion Pictures

• 1977: Won, "Best Supporting Actor" - The Turning Point

Saturn Awards

• 2011: Won, "Best Guest Performer on Television" - Leverage

Screen Actors Guild Awards

• 1995: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series" - Picket Fences
• 1995: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series" - Picket Fences
• 1996: Nominated, "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series" - Picket Fences

Western Heritage Awards

• 1999: Won, "Best Television Feature Film" - Two for Texas

Notes

1. about 100 mi (160 km) drive[14]

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. ""A Sense of Justice" on Death Valley Days". Internet Movie Data Base. October 6, 1966. Retrieved May 30, 2015.
9. "Ten Day Millionaires on Death Valley Days". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
10. Bryant, Adam (May 28, 2010). "Exclusive: Look Who's Playing Nate's Dad on Leverage". TV Guide.
11. La Rocco, Claudia (February 6, 2012). "Ratmansky's 'Don Quixote' Has Premiere in Seattle". The New York Times. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
12. "David Arquette, Lauren Holly Join Civil War Drama 'Field of Lost Shoes'". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
13. "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.
14. "Lake Washington to Lopez Island". Google.com – via Google Maps.
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. Day of Days (2017), retrieved November 29, 2017
18. Patriarchy at IMDb

External links

• Tom Skerritt at IMDb 
• PersonRatings Profile