US actor Tom Skerritt, who starred in Top Gun and Alien, dies aged 93

Emmy award-winning actor Tom Skerritt, known for his roles in TV series Picket Fences and films such as Top Gun and Alien, has died aged 93.

Skerritt died on Wednesday, local time, of natural causes, his family said in a statement.

"While the world knew Tom through his remarkable acting career, we knew him for his humour, curiosity, wisdom, generosity and the love he brought into our lives," the statement read.

"He cared deeply about imagination, creativity, storytelling, service, veterans, the natural world and helping others find and share their own voices."

He was twice nominated for an Emmy, both for Picket Fences in 1993, when he won outstanding lead actor in a drama series.

In an interview in 1997 with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Skerritt said, "A writer once described me as a character actor locked in a leading man's body."

"I've always loved that. It's a nice compliment. I've been able to walk the line between television and features."

Lifelong friendship with Robert Redford

Skerritt grew up in a middle-class Detroit family, his father a small businessman and his mother a housewife. He had two brothers; a sister died as a child.

He spent four years in the Air Force, attended Wayne State University and then switched to the University of California, Los Angeles, to study filmmaking, inspired by a viewing of Citizen Kane.

His performance in a Los Angeles theatre production of The Rainmaker led to his first film role — a supporting role as a sergeant in the 1962 Korean War film War Hunt.

The scrappy independent film marked the debuts of Skerritt, Robert Redford, Sydney Pollack and Francis Ford Coppola.

Redford, who died last year, became a lifelong friend of Skerritt.

"There was such a deep connection we made with each other that it matured into a level-headed friendship," Redford told the Seattle Times in 2007.

"His values were close to mine, and he kept his integrity."

Skerritt's roles in Alien and Top Gun

One of Skerritt's most well-known roles came in Alien, in which Skerritt played the beleaguered and doomed captain of the ship Nostromo. 

He told the Seattle Times that what appealed to him in the script was that the lead actor disappeared and "the woman becomes the hero. I really like that idea".

Following his performance in Alien, he was cast as Tom Cruise's instructor in Top Gun.

"Gentlemen, you are the top 1 per cent of all Naval aviators. The elite. The best of the best. We'll make you better," he said in the film.

"This school is about combat. There are no points for second place."

Skerritt had initially dreamed of directing and writing but had been overtaken by a career in front of the camera.

But he managed to direct and star in the 1997 television movie Divided by Hate.

"Things happen," he told The Ottawa Citizen in 1992. 

"You get hired for a film and the roles kept coming for me. I kept telling myself that if I stuck with acting it would be a really good training for what the problems are in directing. Then the family came along and I had to support them. 

"The years flew by and there was a time when I said I would give up acting and really try to get into directing. But it hasn't worked out that way and I have no regrets."

He is survived by his third wife, Julie Tokashiki, and five children.