Nicky Katt, Actor Known for ‘Boston Public’ and ‘Dazed and Confused,’ Dies at 54
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Nicky Katt, ‘Dazed and Confused’ and ‘Boston Public’ Actor, Dies at 54
Actor Nicky Katt, best known for his roles in Dazed and Confused, Boiler Room, and the TV drama Boston Public, has died at the age of 54.
His passing was confirmed to TheWrap by attorney John Sloss, founder and partner at Sloss Law, which represented Katt. No cause of death has been disclosed.
Katt's career included standout performances across film and television. He starred in Steven Soderbergh’s 2002 film Full Frontal alongside Julia Roberts, Catherine Keener, and Brad Pitt. In the movie, he played an egotistical actor portraying Adolf Hitler as an emotionally stunted man with commitment issues in a fictional play titled The Sound and the Fuhrer.
Soderbergh praised Katt’s bold performance in a 2002 interview with the Los Angeles Times, calling him “absolutely fearless.” The director noted, “He understood that there’s no way to treat Hitler as anything but an abstraction. The humor is in attempting to humanize him, because it’s impossible.”
Reflecting on the role, Katt told the Times the character gave him a way to channel the frustration he had felt in Hollywood. “There’s so much desperation in the air, in Los Angeles especially,” he said. “You don’t notice it in New York as much… I think Stanley Kubrick called the vibe in L.A. a ‘low-level malevolence.’ It eats away at you at some point.”
On television, Katt was known for his role as Harry Senate in Boston Public, appearing in the show's first three seasons. Senate was a passionate, unconventional geology teacher who stepped in after another teacher quit due to student behavior. Though his teaching methods were often controversial, his dedication to his students was clear.
Katt’s film credits also include Sin City and the 2000 financial drama Boiler Room. But one of his most iconic roles remains Clint Bruno in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused (1993)—a rough-edged character who loved his car, weed, and getting into fights. His on-screen brawl with Adam Goldberg’s character Mike remains one of the film’s most memorable scenes.
Nicky Katt was born on May 11, 1970, in South Dakota.
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