Thomas Roy Skerritt (born August 25, 1933) is an American actor who has appeared in more than forty films and more than two hundred television episodes since 1962. He is known for his film roles in M*A*S*H, Alien, The Dead Zone, Top Gun, A River Runs Through It, Up in Smoke, and the television series Picket Fences. Skerritt has earned several nominations and awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1993 for Picket Fences.

Filmography

• 2025Broke — Cliff
• Going Home — Vance Baker
• 2021Catch the Bullet — Dex
• 2021East of the Mountains — Ben Givens, Executive Producer
• 2019The Phantom 52 — The Phantom
• 2017Day of Days — Walter
• 2017Lucky — Fred
• 2016A Hologram for the King — Ron Clay
• 2016Journey Back to Christmas — Tobias Cook
• 2015Field of Lost Shoes — Ulysses S. Grant
• Madam Secretary — Patrick McCord
• 2014The Rocky Mountain Fly Highway — Narrator (voice)
• 2014Wings: Sky Force Heroes — Colonel (voice)
• 2013At Middleton — Roland Emerson
• 2013Redwood Highway — Pete Peterson
• 2012Soda Springs — Walt Jackson
• 2012Ted — Tom Skerritt
• 2011Over Hawaii — Narrator (voice)
• 2011Redemption Road — Santa
• 2011Your Love Never Fails — Jack Connors
• 2010Soaring Over America
• 2009For Sale by Owner — Clive Farrier
• 2009Seattle’s Forgotten World’s Fair: The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition — Narrator (voice)
• The Good Wife — James Paisley
• 2009The Legend of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club — Narrator
• 2009The Velveteen Rabbit — Horse (voice)
• White Collar — Alan Mitchell
• 2009Whiteout — Dr. John Fury
• 2008Beer for My Horses — Sheriff Wilson Landry
• 2008Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde — Gabe Utterson
• Leverage — Jimmy Ford
• The Trojan Horse — President Stanfield
• Fallen — Zeke
• Killer Wave — Victor Bannister
• 2006Bonneville — Emmett L. Johnson
• Brothers and Sisters — William Walker
• 2006Desperation — John Edward Marinville
• 2006Fallen — Zeke
• 2006Mammoth — Simon Abernathy
• Category 7: The End of the World — Colonel Mike Davis
• The Closer — Det. Joey 'O' Olin
• 2005Vinegar Hill — Fritz Grier
• 2004Homeland Security — Admiral McKee
• Homeland Security — Admiral Theodore McKee
• Huff
• The Grid
• 2003Path to War — William Westmoreland
• 2003Swing — George Verdi
• 2003Tears of the Sun — Captain Bill Rhodes
• 2002Changing Hearts — Johnny Pinkley
• 2002Greenmail — Tom Bradshaw
• The Dead Zone — Herb Smith
• 2001Texas Rangers — Richard Dukes
• 2000An American Daughter — Walter
• 2000High Noon — Will Kane
• 2000Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis — Joseph P. "Joe" Kennedy
• Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis — Joseph P. "Joe" Kennedy
• Aftershock: Earthquake in New York — Thomas Ahearn
• 1999Into the Wild Blue — Host
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit — Oliver Taft
• The Hunt For The Unicorn Killer — Fred Maddux
• 1999The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer — Fred Maddux
• 1999The Other Sister — Radley Tate
• The West Wing — Chris Carrick
• 1998Smoke Signals — Police Chief
• 1998Two for Texas — Sam Houston
• Will & Grace — Dr. Jay Markus
• 1997Contact — David Drumlin
• 1997Divided by Hate — Steve Riordan, Director
• 1997What the Deaf Man Heard — Norm Jenkins
• E! True Hollywood Story
• 1995Over America
• Chicago Hope — Jim Kellner
• 1994Over California — Narrator (voice)
• 1992A River Runs Through It — Reverend Maclean
• 1992Getting Up and Going Home — Jack Montgomery
• 1992In Sickness and in Health — Jerritt Mattison
• 1992Knight Moves — Frank Sedman
• Picket Fences — Jimmy Brock
• 1992Poison Ivy — Darryl Cooper
• 1992Singles — Mayor Weber
• 1991Wild Orchid II: Two Shades of Blue — Ham McDonald
• 1990A Question About Sex — Jim, Director
• 1990Child in the Night — Detective Bass
• 1990She'll Take Romance — Judge Warren Danvers
• 1990The China Lake Murders — Sheriff Sam Brodie
• 1990The Rookie — Eugene Ackerman
• 1989Big Man on Campus — Dr. Webster
• 1989Red King, White Knight — Stoner
• 1989Steel Magnolias — Drum Eatenton
• 1989The Heist — Ebbet Berens
• 1988Honor Bound — Sam Cahill
• 1988Moving Target — Joseph Kellogg
• 1988Nightmare at Bittercreek — Ding
• 1988Poltergeist III — Bruce Gardner
• 1987Maid to Order — Charles Montgomery
• 1987Poker Alice — Jeremy Collins
• 1987The Big Town — Phil Carpenter
• 1986Miles to Go… — Stuart Browning
• 1986Opposing Force — Logan
• 1986SpaceCamp — Zack
• 1986The Parent Trap II — Bill Grand
• 1986Top Gun — Viper
• 1986Wisdom — Lloyd Wisdom
• Danger Bay — Don Bared
• The Twilight Zone — (segment "What Are Friends For?")
• 1984A Touch of Scandal — Father Dwelle
• 1984Calendar Girl Murders — Lieutenant Dan Stoner
• Ryan's Four — Dr. Thomas Ryan
• 1983The Dead Zone — Sheriff Bannerman
• The Hitchhiker — Detective Frank Sheen
• 1982A Dangerous Summer — Howard Anderson
• Cheers — Evan Drake
• 1982Fighting Back — John D'Angelo
• 1981Savage Harvest — Casey
• 1981Silence of the North — Walter Reamer
• 1979Alien — Dallas
• 1978Ice Castles — Marcus Winston
• 1978Maneaters Are Loose! — John Gosford
• 1978Up in Smoke — Strawberry
• 1977The Turning Point — Wayne
• 1976La madama — Jack
• Origins of the Mafia — Bernardino Campo
• 1976Plot of Fear — Chief Inspector
• Baretta
• S.W.A.T.
• 1975The Devil’s Rain — Tom Preston
• 1975The Last Day — Bill Powers
• 1974Big Bad Mama — Fred
• Get Christie Love!
• Kolchak: The Night Stalker — Robert W. Palmer
• 1974Run, Run, Joe! — Margherito
• The Manhunter
• 1974Thieves Like Us — Dee Mobley
• 1973The Birdmen — Orville Fitzgerald
• ABC Afterschool Special — Director
• 1972Fuzz — Det. Bert Kling
• Cannon — Bud
• 1971Harold and Maude — Motorcycle Officer
• Nichols — Charley Doyle
• 1971Wild Rovers — John Buckman
• 1970M*A*S*H — Duke Forrest
• 1970The Moonshine War — Neighbor (uncredited)
• Hawaii Five-O — Lew Morgan
• Lancer
• The Outsider — Arnie Cambor
• 1967A Bell for Adano — Sgt. Trapani
• Cimarron Strip — Enoch Shelton
• Mannix — Morgan Carpenter
• Felony Squad
• The Time Tunnel — Matthew Gebhardt
• Run for Your Life — Lou Patterson
• The F.B.I. — Robert Hastings, John Clarence Rim, Thorn Hazard, Bill Leonard
• 1965The Further Adventures of Gallegher — Corky Mardis
• 12 O'Clock High — Lt. Paddy Gialella, Lt. Steve Parmalee
• 1964One Man's Way — Leonard Peale, Grown
• 1964Those Calloways — Whit Turner
• The Fugitive — Neely Hollister, Pete Edwards
• Combat! — Hicks, Burke, Sgt. Decker
• The Alfred Hitchcock Hour — Frank Farmer
• The Virginian — Eric Kroeger, Rev. Paul Martinson, Billy Landers, Moran
• 1962War Hunt — Sgt. Stan Showalter
• Bonanza — Jerry, Corporal Bill Tanner
• The Real McCoys — Mailman
• Wagon Train — Hamish Browne
• Gunsmoke — Edmund Dano, Ben Stone, Orv Timpson, Fred Garth, Tuck Frye
• The Wonderful World of Disney — Corky Mardis
• Hallmark Hall of Fame — Norm Jenkins

Appearances as themselves (15)

• 2025Alien: Terror in Space — Self - Actor
• 2024A Look Through His Lens — Self
• 2019Memory: The Origins of Alien — Self
• The American West — Self
• Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! — Self
• 2003The Beast Within: Making Alien — Self
• 2002The Alien Saga — Self
• History vs. Hollywood — Self
• 2000Altman on His Own Terms — Self
• Backstory — Self
• 2000Enlisted: The Story of 'M*A*S*H' — Self
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien — Self - Guest
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson — Self
• Tony Awards — Self - Presenter
• Golden Globe Awards — Self - Nominee