22 Amazing Photographs of Tom Skerritt in the 1970s

The 1970s was the defining decade that launched Skerritt from a busy television guest star into a prominent, recognizable cinematic presence. During this era, he established his signature “everyman” charm, navigating effortlessly between counterculture comedies, prestigious dramas, and landmark science fiction. Skerritt secured his true breakout role playing US Army Surgeon Captain Augustus Bedford “Duke” Forrest in Robert Altman’s seminal military black comedy M*A*S*H (1970). Starring alongside Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould, the massive hit solidified his footing in Hollywood.

He displayed his range in the critically acclaimed The Turning Point (1977), Oscar-nominated drama starring Anne Bancroft and Shirley MacLaine, which helped prove he could handle grounded, emotionally heavy studio pictures. Skerritt showed off his comedic timing by appearing in Cheech & Chong’s legendary counterculture stoner comedy Up in Smoke (1978). He capped off the decade with one of his most iconic roles, Captain Dallas of the Nostromo in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror masterpiece Alien (1979). Playing the doomed captain opposite Sigourney Weaver, Skerritt’s quiet authority anchored the terrifying first half of the film.

Before his film career exploded later in the decade, Skerritt spent the early 1970s as a highly visible face on the small screen. He frequently guest-starred on major westerns, dramas, and police procedurals of the era, including: Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Hawaii Five-O, Baretta and Barnaby Jones.

Often described as a “character actor locked in a leading man’s body,” Skerritt’s work in the 1970s laid the foundational rugged charm that would later lead to iconic roles in the 1980s and 1990s, such as Viper in Top Gun and his Emmy-winning run on Picket Fences.