Tom Skerritt, the actor whose six-decade career ranged from the freewheeling 1970 film M*A*S*H to Tom Cruise’s Air Force mentor in Top Gun and an Emmy-winning turn on television’s Picket Fences, has died of natural causes, according to a family statement reported by The Gateway Pundit. He died on Wednesday.
“We are heartbroken by his loss,” his family said. “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 statement went on to describe a man whose interests stretched well past the screen — toward creativity, service and the natural world. “He cared deeply about imagination, creativity, storytelling, service, veterans, the natural world and helping others find and share their own voices,” the family said.
A career launched by a stolen jeep
Skerritt’s breakthrough came in Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H, in which he played Southern surgeon Duke Forrest. The film opens with Forrest and Hawkeye Pierce, played by Donald Sutherland, stealing a jeep to reach the mobile hospital where they are assigned to treat wounded American soldiers during the Korean War. Once there, the pair team up with Trapper John McIntyre, played by Elliott Gould, and set about flouting any army regulation that interferes with their drinking and womanizing.
The anti-establishment comedy was among the year’s most popular films and spawned the long-running CBS series of the same name. In an odd twist, Skerritt’s character was one of the few left out of the television adaptation — but the role had already proven he could carry a picture.
With his outdoorsy features and bristly mustache, Skerritt cut a rugged, masculine figure on screen and was frequently cast in positions of authority. He played Shirley MacLaine’s husband in The Turning Point, a 1977 film that earned 11 Oscar nominations, and was memorable as the minister and MacLean family patriarch in Robert Redford’s 1992 adaptation of A River Runs Through It. He also starred alongside Julia Roberts, Sally Field and Dolly Parton in Steel Magnolias, and appeared in Ridley Scott’s Alien.
On television, he won an Emmy for his role on Picket Fences, and in 2000 he took on the iconic lawman Will Kane in a TBS remake of High Noon.
Veterans and the next generation of storytellers
Beyond acting, Skerritt’s family highlighted his work helping others tell their own stories. He helped found TheFilmSchool in Seattle, an institution aimed at supporting emerging filmmakers, and later co-founded the Red Badge Project.
“Tom believed deeply in the power of storytelling,” his family said. “That commitment later extended to the Red Badge Project, which he co-founded to help veterans work through PTSD, anxiety, and depression by writing and sharing their experiences.”
The Red Badge Project, named for the Stephen Crane novel about the Civil War, uses writing workshops to help veterans process trauma — a cause that fit with Skerritt’s long-standing connection to military-themed material and his public advocacy for service members.
An outpouring from Hollywood and beyond
News of Skerritt’s death prompted tributes from colleagues and fans remembering a performer whose career spanned independent cinema, blockbuster hits and prestige television. His role as Viper in Top Gun, the 1986 film that made Cruise a superstar, remained one of his most widely recognized parts, introducing him to generations of viewers who came of age after M*A*S*H.
Details on funeral arrangements and memorial plans were not immediately available. The family’s statement focused on his life rather than any public ceremony, asking that his legacy be measured in the stories he helped others tell.
Source: www.thegatewaypundit.com — https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/10/top-gun-star-tom-skerritt-passes-away/