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Tributes have been paid to the Hollywood veteran actor Tom Skerritt, best known for his starring roles in Alien and Top Gun, who’s died aged 93.
His family revealed he died on Wednesday from natural causes.
“While the world knew Tom through his remarkable acting career, we knew him for his humor, curiosity, wisdom, generosity and the love he brought into our lives,” the family said in a statement. “He cared deeply about imagination, creativity, storytelling, service, veterans, the natural world and helping others find and share their own voices.”
On screen, Skerritt was the embodiment of a solid, wry authority figure, whether as a flight instructor in Top Gun, a tough-but-fair sheriff on TV’s Picket Fences or the doomed captain of Alien.
He was twice nominated for an Emmy — both for Picket Fences, winning outstanding lead actor in a drama series in 1993.
Other career highlights include playing the patient husband of Shirley MacLaine in Turning Point, Sally Field’s husband in Steel Magnolias and a scheming opportunist who stands in the way of Jodie Foster’s attempt to communicate with extra-terrestrial life in Contact.
Julia Roberts, who played as his daughter in Steel Magnolias, posted a picture of the pair describing Skerritt as “a shining light of a gentle man. RIP”, followed by a broken heart emoji.
Skerritt’s first film role came in 1962’s War Hunt, a Korean War movie which also marked the debut of Robert Redford, Sydney Pollack and Francis Ford Coppola.
Redford, who died last year, became a lifelong friend. “There was such a deep connection we made with each other that it matured into a level-headed friendship,” Redford told the Seattle Times in 2007. “His values were close to mine, and he kept his integrity.
Talking about himself in 1997, Skerritt told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “A writer once described me as a character actor locked in a leading man’s body, and I’ve always loved that. It’s a nice compliment. I’ve been able to walk the line between television and features.”
Tom Skerritt is survived by his third wife, Julie Tokashiki, and five children.