Actor Tom Skerritt, known for roles in Top Gun and Alien, has died

Actor Tom Skerritt, best known for roles in Top Gun and Alien, has died at the age of 93.

He died of natural causes, his family said in a statement on Wednesday.

"While the world knew Tom through his remarkable acting career, we knew him for his humour, curiosity, wisdom, generosity and the love he brought into our lives. He cared deeply about imagination, creativity, storytelling, service, veterans, the natural world and helping others find and share their own voices," the statement said.

Skerritt won an Emmy in 1993 for outstanding lead actor in a drama series for his role in Picket Fences.

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 in the extraterrestrial movie Contact.

"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," he told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in 1997.

Skerritt made his Broadway debut in 2013 in an adaptation of John Grisham's A Time to Kill, in which he played a disgraced and drunken lawyer.

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(c) Sky News 2026: Actor Tom Skerritt, known for roles in Top Gun and Alien, has died