Below is a compiled list of the most interesting facts about Tom Skerritt. Check it out!
Lean, ruggedly handsome leading man and supporting actor whose “outdoor” looks have improved with age, Tom Skerritt attended Wayne State University and UCLA. He was first noticed in a UCLA production of “The Rainmaker” before making his movie debut in War Hunt (1962). However, he spent most of the next decade in television, regularly appearing in Combat! (1962), The Virginian (1962), Gunsmoke (1955) and 12 O’Clock High (1964). Skerritt’s next big break was appearing alongside Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould in Robert Altman’s biting satire M.A.S.H. (1970). Several other film roles quickly followed, before he landed the plum role of Capt. Dallas of the ill-fated commercial towing vehicle Nostromo in the creepy sci-fi epic Alien (1979).
Interesting Facts about Tom Skerritt
- Attended Wayne State University in Detroit Michigan.
- Doing commercials for the University of Kansas Medical Center. [May 2006]
- Plays the motorcycle cop in Harold and Maude (1971) but is billed in the credits as “M. Borman”.
- Seldom seen on stage, Tom appeared with the late Lee Remick in a performance of “Love Letters” in 1990, her last appearance before her death from cancer. He also performed in the same play with Kathy Baker for several benefits in the Los Angeles area. In 2004 he returned once more as the Stage Manager in a Seattle production of “Our Town”.
- Has been living in the Seattle area and agreed to play the role of “The Stage Manager” in Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” at the Intiman Theater. [October 2004]
- Best known by the public for his starring role as Sheriff Jimmy Brock on Picket Fences (1992).
- Children: Andy (b. 1962), Erin (b. 1964) and Matt Skerritt (b. 1969) with Charlotte Skerritt and Colin Skerritt (b. 1978) with Sue Skerritt.
- His acting mentor was the late Robert Altman.
- He has appeared in five films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant: M.A.S.H. (1970), Harold and Maude (1971), Alien (1979), Top Gun (1986) and Smoke Signals (1998).
- Along with Ken Pogue, he is one of only two actors to appear in both The Dead Zone (1983) and The Dead Zone (2002).
- Although Dallas is the second character in ‘Alien’ to be killed, Skerritt has outlived both Harry Dean Stanton and Ian Holm.
- Acting mentor and friends of Holly Marie Combs and Lauren Holly.
Personal Quotes by Tom Skerritt
Most screenplays depend primarily on the vision of a director.
Tom Skerritt
Obviously, if a director doesn’t communicative a clear, relevant vision of the material, it will not succeed no matter how good the material.
Tom Skerritt
One has the responsibility to oneself, to the writer, director and the people who put up the money, to put out the best of what one has experienced and understood about the human condition as it relates to the role one has been hired to portray.
Tom Skerritt
As a very experienced writer once told me, ‘It’s in the rewrites’.
Tom Skerritt
