Tom Skerritt

Emmy Award winning actor, writer, and director Tom Skerritt is a much loved resident of Washington State. While an English major in Wayne State University, his interest in filmmaking led him to UCLA to study film directing. He worked in his first TV show with director Robert Altman, with whom he mentored as a filmmaker prior to being cast in the movie M*A*S*H. Other Classic films followed including Turning Point, Alien, A River Runs Through it, Steel Magnolias, Top Gun, and Contact. He continued his stage work in the Broadway adaptation of John Grisham’s “A Time to Kill.” This was followed by television appearances in “The Good Wife” and “Madam Secretary.”

Tom continues to act and write, but his personal interests are now with his family and fostering the creative vibrancy of Seattle. He is one of the multi-talented people who founded The Film School in Seattle, a Mecca for engaging in the art of storytelling. Watching the success of storytelling at The Film School, Tom realized that a similar strategy might help returned veterans deal with PTSD. He founded the Red Badge Project in partnership with Joint Base Lewis McChord to help returning vets reconnect with themselves.