By Abb Jones
The Reelness

Tom Skerritt, the actor best known for his work in such movies as Steel Magnolias, the Top Gun films, A River Runs Through It and Alien, and the TV series Picket Fences, has died of natural causes at the age of 93.

Born the youngest of three children in Detroit, Michigan, Skerritt joined the Air Force for a four-year stint before college. He left UCLA, where he had studied directing, to begin his acting career.

Skerritt won an Emmy in 1993 for his leading role in the TV comedy Picket Fences and helped found a film school in Seattle to help veterans struggling with depression. He split his time between Seattle and Lopez Island.

Skerritt is survived by his third wife Julie, five children, five grandchildren and two great grandchildren.