Boston Public Star was 54
Nicky Katt, who played teacher Harry Senate on “Boston Public” after he started playing a child actor and played a tough boys in films, including “Dazed and Confused” and “Boiler Room”, died. He was 54.
His death was reported by his friends and by lawyer John Sloss and reportedly took place on April 8 in Burbank.
Katt often played swords and villains and collaborated with Richard Linklater and appeared in “Waking Life”, “Suburbia” and “School of Rock.” For director Steven Soderbergh he appeared in “The Limey” as Stacy The Hitman, as Hitler in “Full Frontal”, and had one of his last roles in “Behind the Candelabra.” Christopher Nolan threw him into “Insomnia” and “The Dark Knight”, in which he played a SWAT team member.
At ‘Boston Public’, Katt played the popular Geology teacher Harry Senate, who taught troublemakers in ‘The Dungeon’. David E. Kelley arranged that he was written from the show after having had a mental breakdown, so that Katt could pursue his film career after three seasons.
In the leftlater ‘Dazed and Confused’, Katt played the tough guy Clint Bruno, who threatens Mike (Adam Goldberg) and then beats him up. He then appeared in Gregg Araki’s ‘Doom Generation’, Kathryn Bigelow’s ‘Strange Days’, in Neil Jordan’s ‘The Brave One’ and in two Joel Schumacher films, ‘A Time to Kill’ and ‘Batman & Robin’.
Katt was memorable in the directorial debut of Christopher McQuarrie, the Western action film ‘The Way of the Gun’ of 2000 as a bodyguard that is injured in a shooting.
He also provided the voice with Atton Rand for the video game “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords”.
Katt, who lived part -time in Austin, Texas, collaborated with Richard Rodriguez on ‘Sin City’. He also appeared in Tarantino’s ‘Death Proof’.
In an interview from 2008 About his role in the ‘Snow Angels’ by David Gordon Green, he told Todd Gilchrist,’ I am a bit notorious that I bring a lot of humor to things, and not on a scene stalking, [but] Especially if something really is a kind of heavy subject, I am a kind of oxygen for a drown man. ‘
“I mean, everyone also says that the bad guys are the best, but I certainly went through stripes where that is all where people wanted me to play, the villain, especially after ‘dazed and confused’. But I was really lucky because I can play all the different types of boys,” he said.
Katt, born in South Dakota, started as a child actor on TV and with small roles in “Gremlins” and “The” Burbs. “
On television he appeared in shows, including a recurring role in the series “Herbie, The Love Bug”, “V”, “Quincy Me”, “Father Murphy” and “Law and Order.” His last credited performance was in the ‘Casual’ series in 2018.
