In a career spanning more than four decades, he was best known for his lighting designs for ballet and Broadway theatre productions.
Born in North Bridgeton, Maine, Skelton graduated from Middlebury College, Theatre Department.
He worked for Robert Joffrey's new dance company as a lighting designer and stage manager.
He also designed lighting for numerous productions at, among others, the Circle in the Square, Yale Repertory Theatre, and the American Shakespeare Festival.
His theater designs often added a feeling of light and air to a stage picture while strengthening the dramatic quality of a production.