Tom Skerritt

Tom Skerritt
Skerritt at the Phoenix Comicon Fan Fest, December 2014
Born	Thomas Roy Skerritt (1933-08-25) August 25, 1933 (age 83) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Alma mater	Wayne State University University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1962–present
Spouse(s)	Charlotte Shanks (1957–1972) Sue Oran (1977–1992) Julie Tokashiki (1998–present)

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 known for his roles in MASH, Alien, Top Gun, A River Runs Through It, Up in Smoke, and the television series Picket Fences. Skerritt has earned several awards and nominations, including a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1993 for Picket Fences.

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 served a tour of duty in the United States Air Force.

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. In 1989, he played the role of Thomas Drummond "Drum" Eatenton in Steel Magnolias, it was a highly acclaimed movie. 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 brother protagonists in the film.