Tom Skerritt, the veteran actor whose steely Captain Dallas met one of horror cinema’s most gruesome ends in Ridley Scott‘s Alien, has died at 93, according to a report from The Hollywood Reporter. His family announced the death, saying they are “heartbroken by his loss” and describing him as a man who prized imagination, creativity, storytelling, service, veterans, and helping others find their own voice. The family’s statement points to natural causes though Rue Morgue has not independently verified further details beyond that report.
Skerritt’s horror credentials ran deeper than the Nostromo. In Alien (1979), his Dallas was the doomed commander whose crew’s search for a derelict ship unleashed one of cinema’s most enduring monsters. He turned up again in genre territory in David Cronenberg‘s The Dead Zone (1983), adapted from Stephen King‘s novel, and in Poltergeist III (1988), playing Uncle Bruce Gardner opposite Heather O’Rourke in the franchise’s finale.
Beyond horror, Skerritt’s career ranged from the battlefield satire of M*A*S*H to the adrenaline of Top Gun, and he spent six seasons as the folksy sheriff Jimmy Brock on the small town drama Picket Fences, a role that earned him an Emmy.
RIP Dallas.
