Though he had an affinity for playing villains, actor Tom Skerritt was a familiar face to audiences as all-American authority figures – soldier, police officer, father – in prominent features and television series over several decades. After first gaining attention as the irreverent Southern doctor Duke Forrest in Robert Altman's "M*A*S*H" (1970), Skerritt went on to an accomplished career that was marked with intelligent, penetrating performances. Perhaps most identified with the thoughtful gentleness he brought to his role as Shirley MacLaine's husband in "The Turning Point" (1977), Skerritt
