Hollywood has lost one of those rare actors who could walk into almost any kind of story and make the entire production feel more believable.

Tom Skerritt, whose career stretched from MASH and Alien to Top Gun, Steel Magnolias, and the Emmy-winning television drama Picket Fences, has died at 93. His family stated Skerritt passed away Wednesday of natural causes.

The news began spreading rapidly across social media Thursday afternoon. For moviegoers, Skerritt was one of the most recognizable faces of his generation even when he was not the name printed first on the poster. He brought a weathered authority to the screen: calm, grounded and unmistakably American.

In Alien, he played Dallas, captain of the doomed Nostromo. In the original Top Gun, he was Commander Mike “Viper” Metcalf, the veteran instructor tasked with turning gifted young pilots into the Navy’s best. He was also Duke Forrest in Robert Altman’s MASH, Drum Eatenton in Steel Magnolias, the Reverend John Maclean in Robert Redford’s A River Runs Through It, and David Drumlin in Contact.

That range explains why Skerritt remained familiar across several generations. Some viewers first knew him as a big-screen military figure. Others remember the father and husband he played opposite Sally Field in Steel Magnolias. Television audiences knew him as Sheriff Jimmy Brock, the steady center of the wonderfully strange Wisconsin town in Picket Fences.

The family described Skerritt as remembered for his “humor, curiosity, wisdom, generosity and the love he brought into our lives.” He died Wednesday of natural causes and cared deeply about imagination, storytelling, service, veterans and helping other people find their own voices. He is survived by his wife, Julie Tokashiki, and five children.

Skerritt’s career spanned more than six decades, from his film debut in War Hunt through landmark roles in MASH, Alien, Top Gun, and A River Runs Through It. The wire service noted the rare combination that made him so effective: the presence of a leading man and the disciplined instincts of a character actor.

Born in Detroit in 1933, Skerritt enlisted in the United States Air Force after high school. He served for four years before using the GI Bill to continue his education and pursue the arts. The Department of Veterans Affairs reported he enlisted in 1951, inspired in part by an older brother who had served as a pilot during World War II. After leaving the Air Force, he used the GI Bill while studying at UCLA, where a drama course helped redirect his life toward acting.

Years later, Skerritt helped create the Red Badge Project, a storytelling program designed to give military veterans a way to process and share their experiences through writing. The University of Washington documented how the program began in 2011 after Skerritt and fellow organizers confronted the devastating number of veterans dying by suicide. They responded by building writing classes around veterans telling their own stories in their own words.

Skerritt’s performance as Sheriff Jimmy Brock earned him an Emmy win for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1993, and he returned as a nominee the following year. His work on Picket Fences collected 27 Emmy nominations and 14 wins during its run.

Skerritt’s legacy remains defined by his ability to carry a series without sanding away the subtle, grounded qualities that made him such a valuable supporting actor on film. He had the presence to command the frame but understood how to serve the story and strengthen actors around him—a balance he once described as being “a character actor trapped in a leading man’s body.”

He is survived by his wife, Julie Tokashiki, and five children. His family has lost a husband and father. Hollywood has lost one of its most dependable and distinctive actors. Generations of Americans have lost a familiar presence who made some of their most beloved movies and television shows better simply by being there.