Tom Skerritt Biography

Thomas Roy "Tom" Skerritt (born August 25, 1933) is an American actor who has appeared in more than forty films and more than two hundred television episodes since 1962. He is best known for his roles in MASH, Alien, Top Gun, A River Runs Through It, Up in Smoke, and the television series Picket Fences.

Early life

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

Career

Skerritt made his film debut in War Hunt, produced by Terry Sanders and released in 1962. Skerritt's notable film appearances include MASH (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), 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.

Skerrit guest starred in the television series The Real McCoys (as a letter carrier), Bonanza (1964), Gunsmoke, 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 since. This was his second time playing the husband of Sally Field, the first having been in the film Steel Magnolias, set in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

He played the role of Ezekiel on ABC Family's Fallen miniseries. He also appeared as the guide on the showcase website for Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system. He lent his voice in the 2005 video game Gun, where he voices as Clay Allison.

He guest starred in seasons 3 and 4 of Leverage as Nate Ford's father.

In February 2012, Skerrit played the title role in Pacific Northwest Ballet's production of Don Quixote. The New York Times

Skerritt is a co-founder of TheFilmSchool, in which he is also an instructor.

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 in the San Juan Islands. Skerritt has three sons and one daughter and an adopted daughter with his current wife.

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	Det. Bert Kling
1974	Thieves Like Us	Dee Mobley
	Run, Run, Joe!	Margherito
	Big Bad Mama	Fred Diller
1975	The Devil's Rain	Tom Preston
1976	Plot of Fear	Chief Inspector
	Madama, La	Rick Dylan
1977	The Turning Point	Wayne
1978	Up in Smoke	Strawberry
	Ice Castles	Marcus Winston
1979	Alien	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
	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	Capt. Frank Sedman
	Wild Orchid 2: Two Shades of Blue	Ham McDonald	Direct-to-Video Release
	A River Runs Through It	Reverend 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
2012	Ted	Himself
2013	Field of Lost Shoes	Ulysses S. Grant	Filming

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 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 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	Twelve 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
	Disney's Wonderful World	Corky Mardis	Episode: ...The Daily Press vs. City Hall
1965, 1966	The Fugitive	Neely Hollister Pete	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	Sen. 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	S.W.A.T.	Maynard Hill	Episode: Dragons and Owls
	Sara		Episode: 1.9
	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	Det. Frank Sheen	Episode: True Believer
	The Parent Trap II	Bill Grand	ABC Television film
	The New Twilight Zone	Alex Mattingly	Episode: What Are Friends For?
	Danger Bay	Don Bared	Episode: The Fish Who Walks
1987	Poker Alice, based on the frontier gambler Poker Alice, with Elizabeth Taylor in the lead role	Jeremy Collins	CBS Television film
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	Sen. 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	Col. 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) 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	(TV series) Episode "The Three Card Monte Job"
	The Closer	Joey O
2012	Leverage	Jimmy Ford	(TV series) Episode "The Radio Job"
	White Collar	Alan Mitchell	Episode "Pulling Strings"

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