Some are heralded as creme de la creme, but you, Mr. Skerritt, were without question the personification of it.
To a generation of sci-fi/horror fans, your portrayal of Captain Dallas in Ridley Scott's Alien made you cinematic royalty, but you were in the Hollywood spotlight well before and well after that groundbreaking, creature yarn.
For example, you dominated the great, vigilante endeavor, Fighting Back, in addition to starring in the original incarnations of M*A*S*H and The Dead Zone. You also occupied Lucky (with your Alien costar, Harry Dean Stanton), Stephen King's Desperation, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (2008), The Devil's Rain, Poltergeist III, Contact, Mammoth, Ted, Savage Harvest, Knight Moves, Red King White Knight, Aftershock: Earthquake in New York, Category 7: The End of the World, Poison Ivy (1991), Top Gun, High Noon (2000, as Will Kane), The Trojan Horse, A River Runs Through it, Rivers of a Lost Coast, Field of Lost Shoes, Run Joe Run, Maid to Order, Ice Castles; Up in Smoke, Smoke Signals, Poker Alice, At Middleton, War Hunt, Path to War, Wings: Skyforce Heroes, Wild Rovers, Fuzz, The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer, Harold and Maude, The Velveteen Rabbit, The Birdmen, The Grid, One Man's Way, The Calloways, The Parent Trap II, The Rookie, Plot of Fear, Sexycop, The Turning Point, An American Daughter, The Last Day, A Dangerous Summer, Silence of the North, Singles, Texas Rangers, The China Lake Murders, Whiteout, Two for Texas, Child in the Night, East of the Mountains, She'll Take Romance, For Sale by Owner, Beer for My Horses, Tears of the Sun, Redwood Highway, Redemption Road, A Hologram for a King, Broke, Day of Days, A Valentine's Date, Journey Back to Christmas, Your Love Never Fails, Catch the Bullet, What the Deaf Man Heard and Wild Orchid II: Two Shades of Blue.
Your television career was a whopper, as well, with the lead role of Sheriff Jimmy Brock on the cherished Picket Fences, and appearances on Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Wagon Train, The Virginian, Laramie, Death Valley Days, Cimarron Strip, Nichols, Sara, The Fugitive, Run for Your Life, The Outsider, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Twilight Zone (1986), The Hitchhiker, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Combat!, 12 O'Clock High, My Favorite Martian, My Three Sons, The Real McCoys, Cheers, Roseanne, Will & Grace, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Felony Squad, The F.B.I., Mannix, Baretta, Barnaby Jones, SWAT, Hawaii Five-O, Medical Center, Danger Bay, Storefront Lawyers, The West Wing, Madame Secretary, Leverage, White Collar, Going Home, The Good Wife, The Manhunter, Homeland Security, The Closer, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Indeed, your resume bursts at the seams, and in every aspect, you stood out, whether the role was big, small, lingering or fleeting. That's because you were a master of your craft, Mr. Skerritt, an artist who knew the human soul, enough to make us watch, feel and care: the defining mark of a quality actor.
