Tom Skerritt

Thomas Roy Skerritt is a two-time Golden Globe nominee and Emmy Award winner who was born on August 25, 1933 in Detroit, Michigan. He is best known for his appearances in such iconic films as Top Gun, Alien, and M.A.S.H. and as Sheriff Jimmy Brock in the long-running '90s TV series Picket Fences.

Skerritt graduated from Detroit's Mackenzie High School in 1951 and furthered his studies at both the Wayne State University and the University of California, Los Angeles. He also served a tour of duty as part of the United States Air Force. He began his acting career in 1962 by landing the role of Sgt. Stan Showalter in the movie War Hunt.

Skerritt has enjoyed a prolific career in Hollywood. Some of his early major accomplishments include his breakout performance as Duke Forrest in 1970's M.A.S.H., as well as Harold and Maude (1971), Big Bad Mama (1974), Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke (1978), Ice Castles (1978), and his legendary performance as Dallas in the hit film Alien (1979).

In the 1980s, he starred opposite Tom Cruise in perhaps one of his most iconic roles as Commander Mike Metcalf (aka "Viper") in Top Gun (1986). Other film credits that decade include SpaceCamp (1986), Poltergeist III (1988), and Steel Magnolias (1989). Skerritt's most notable film roles of the '90s include Rev. Maclean in A River Runs Through It (1992) and David Drumlin in Contact (1997). 

Skerritt has also enjoyed a successful career in television, most notably for his role as Sheriff Jimmy Brock in Picket Fences, which ran from 1992 through to 1996. He appeared in a total of 88 episodes and won an Emmy Award for his efforts in 1993. He also earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations in 1994 and a second Golden Globe nomination in 1995. Other notable TV appearances include Twelve O'Clock High, Death Valley Days, The Virginian, and Gunsmoke in the '60s and '70s, Dr. Thomas Ryan in Ryan's Four and Drake Evan in Cheers in the '80s, The Grid in 2004, Brothers & Sisters from 2006 to 2009, and Leverage in 2010 and 2012.

On stage, Skerritt played the title role of Pacific Northwest Ballet's production of Don Quixote in Seattle, Washington, in February 2012. He then made his Broadway debut as Lucien Wilbanks in the Broadway premiere of A Time to Kill, which ran from September 28 through to November 17, 2013 at the Golden Theatre. He was scheduled to return to Broadway in the Second Stage Theater production of Straight White Men in June 2018, but he withdrew from the show ahead of the first preview for personal reasons.