Tom Skerritt, the longtime actor remembered by movie audiences as Mike “Viper” Metcalf in Top Gun, has died at 93. According to his family, Skerritt died of natural causes on Wednesday.
His career stretched across six decades and included major roles in Top Gun, Alien, Steel Magnolias, and Picket Fences. In Top Gun, Skerritt played Tom Cruise’s Air Force instructor, Mike “Viper” Metcalf, a role that made him one of the film’s most memorable authority figures. Hollywood apparently knew exactly what to do with that combination of confidence, a bristly mustache, and a commanding presence.
The Hollywood Reporter also noted Skerritt’s work in The Turning Point, where he portrayed Shirley MacLaine’s husband, and in Robert Redford’s A River Runs Through It, where he played a minister and the patriarch of the MacLean family. He also portrayed the lawman Will Kane in a 2000 remake of High Noon for TBS.
Skerritt’s breakthrough came in the 1970 film M*A*S*H. He played Duke Forrest, a Southern surgeon who opens the movie by stealing a jeep with Hawkeye Pierce, played by Donald Sutherland. The pair head to a mobile hospital serving injured U.S. soldiers during the Korean War, where they join Trapper John McIntyre, played by Elliott Gould. The film’s freewheeling, anti-establishment comedy became one of the year’s most popular movies and led to the long-running CBS television series.
Interestingly, Skerritt’s character was not included in the small-screen adaptation. Even so, the role demonstrated that he had the screen presence and star power to stand out in a crowded cast.
His family remembered him for much more than his acting career.
“We are heartbroken by his loss,” his family said in a statement. “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. He cared deeply about imagination, creativity, storytelling, service, veterans, the natural world and helping others find and share their own voices.”
Skerritt also worked to support future storytellers and veterans. His family said he helped found TheFilmSchool in Seattle, which supported the next generation of filmmakers and storytellers. 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.
“Tom believed deeply in the power of storytelling. He helped found TheFilmSchool in Seattle to support the next generation of filmmakers and storytellers,” 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.”
From military instructors and lawmen to ministers, surgeons, and patriarchs, Skerritt built a career around memorable performances and unmistakable authority. His work on screen, along with his efforts to help veterans and aspiring storytellers, gives audiences plenty to remember.
Leave a Comment