Born Augustin Islas in Acapulco, Mexico, Nicky Katt started out as a child actor appearing in blink-and-miss it roles in Gremlins and roles on popular TV shows like Fantasy Island and Trapper John, M.D. On the advice of Harvey Korman, he adopted a more Anglicized name like Nicky. He was also a distant cousin of William Katt, so the name association probably helped him.
He bounced around for years throughout the 1980s appearing on TV shows like The Facts of Life and replacing Eric Johnston as Sean Donovan in V: The Series. Johnston had played the character in the two miniseries. In the 1989 black comedy The ‘Burbs, he played Steve Kuntz, the friend of Corey Feldman’s Ricky Butler, who gets into an argument with Vietnam vet Lt. Mark Rumsfield (Bruce Dern) who calls him a “lame-o” leading to Ricky and others mocking Rumsfield by calling Steve a “lame-o.”
In 1993, he appeared in his breakout role as Clint Bruno in the 1970s teen ensemble comedy-drama Dazed and Confused. Katt’s character seemed a relic from the 1950s/1960s greaser era. He shared a scene with Matthew McConaughey’s Wooderson busting his balls about his car in male bravado. Later he gets into a fight with Adam Goldberg’s Mike Newhouse at an outdoor kegger.
He delivered a paraphrase of Roddy Piper’s line from They Live as he said “I only came here to do two things, kick some ass and drink some beer.” The role would lead to him mostly cast as bad guys and heavies in movies throughout the decade. He co-starred with Jeremy London, brother his Dazed‘s co-star Jason London and Alicia Silverstone in The Babysitter.
Even though they don’t share any scenes with McConaughey, he would play a despicable character Billy Ray Cobb in A Time to Kill, adapted from John Grisham’s first novel of the same name. Billy Ray is a Mississippi redneck who physically assaults, rapes and tries to the child daughter of Samuel L. Jackson’s character. He is later gunned down by Carl Lee Hailley (Jackson).
Sadly, while other Dazed and Confused actors were going on to bigger and better things. His career trajectory was different from McConaughey, Ben Affleck, Cole Hauser, Parker Posey, Renee Zellweger and Joey Lauren Adams, Katt just seemed to be the go-to person when a casting director needed a bully or bad person. Even in his only episode on the hit show Friends, he played a Central Perk customer who antagonizes characters Ross (David Schwimmer) and Chandler (Matthew Perry.)
But Dazed director Richard Linklatter would cast him as Tim in the uneven adaptation of Eric Brogosian’s SubUrbia. The movie is hard to watch and sit through mainly because neither Linklater nor Brogosian can make the characters transition from the stage to the screen. It’s one thing to have actors sitting and standing around in one setting talking when it’s a play. It’s another when it’s in a movie especially if you don’t care what they’re talking about.
The movie has some awful performances by Posey, Giovanni Ribisi and Steve Zahn, the latter of two overact so badly, you wonder what Linklater was thinking. But the inclusion of actor Jayce Bartok stops the movie dead whenever he’s on scene. Katt’s role as Tim, a ne’er do well who intentionally injured himself as a mess hall cook with the Air Force, was the only character in the movie who seemed to some some depth and dimension.
It also showed that Katt might be able to break out of the bad guy roles he had found himself being cast. Tim isn’t really a bad guy. He’s just one of those people in their late teens or early 20s who gets stuck wondering what they want to do with their life. So, instead they don’t know how to behave. They’re too old to continue to behave like children but still too young to be taken seriously by society so what’s the point of confirming while you still have your youth.
If SubUrbia had been as well received as Dazed, it might have opened more doors for Katt. To be honest, I feel Dazed and Confused‘s legacy is seen mostly through rose-colored glasses for all the big names who started out in it back in 1993 the same way Fast Times at Ridgmont High did a decade before. But sadly, some of the othe cast members of that movie didn’t have great careers. Wiley Wiggins and Sasha Jenson saw their careers stall shortly after.
Katt would go on to appear as Spike, a biker in Batman & Robin re-uniting him with Silverstone and then as a deputy alongside Dazed co-star Affleck in Phantoms. The only problem was as Roger Ebert noted, the costume designer gave Katt’s character a funny hat to wear. They did and this meant his character wouldn’t be around for a long time. Even though the movie featured veteran actor Peter O’Toole, Katt’s character didn’t share a scene with him.
But it seemed things were going to turn around for the actor as a new decade started in the 2000s. He was cast as Harry Senate, a teacher in the comedy-drama series Boston Public, about a public high school in the Greater Boston area. Created by David E. Kelly, the show aired on Mondays on Fox along with ratings hit Ally McBeal. Katt’s role was as a teacher of the students in “the Dungeon” where most of the least-promising students go to ride out their time until they drop out.
Senate was actually a very good guy character for Katt. The show became popular and won critical acclaim and awards. With a diverse cast that also included Chi McBride, Anthony Heald, Rashida Jones, Loretta Devine and Fyvush Finkel, the show tackled difficult subjects involving public education with a honesty in the relationship between students and teachers.
But as most TV shows goes, there’s also retooling and tweaking. Katt, along with actor Jessalyn Gilsig saw their characters pushed to the backgrounds as the second season focused more on new characters played by Michael Rapaport and Jeri Ryan. Katt left early in the third season in 2002. Katt would return to movies with Insomnia starring alongside Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank. He played Fred Duggar, a cocky police detective in northern Alaska who doesn’t like that Pacino’s LAPD detective has been brought in to “help” with a murder investigation.
Other roles in the 2000s in movies like School of Rock, Planet Terror, Sin City, Death Proof and World Trade Center were he appeared mostly for a scene or two. I think everyone can agree his role as a S.W.A.T. team member in The Dark Knight was one of the movie’s few flaws. Most of the roles where in movies directed by Linklater, Steven Soderbergh, where he appeared in the underrated The Limey, and Christopher Nolan.
Katt’s career was typical of Hollywood actors. They appear in a few roles at the beginning. Then, they’re in some big-name movies one after the other. And you’d think they’ll be offered bigger roles. But Hollywood is just like every other industry. It’s not always about merit when it comes to success. It’s about luck and who you know.
An actor plays a role that they get typecast in and can’t break out unless they take a chance on an independent movie. Micky Dolenz said after The Monkees ended, he couldn’t even get into regular casting auditions because he would immediately be told it wasn’t a musical. That’s how it goes sometimes.
The roles dried up. Talent agents push for you but then realize they can push another client that the casting director wants. Katt was briefly married from 1999 to 2001, but he had no children. He lived in Ben Lomond, Calif. taking care of his ill mother until her death in 2023.
Katt’s made a few appearances in movies and TV in the 2010s again working with Soderbergh on the HBO movie Liberace biopic Behind the Candlebra. But his last role was on the TV show Casual in 2018. His sister, Elise Ravenscroft, has reported Katt had been suffering from depression and other mental illness.
For a while, Katt’s status as a former child actor seemed like it wasn’t going to be another statistic as he acted a lot in the 1990s and 2000s. But earlier this month, Katt lost his battle with mental illness as he was reportedly found in his apartment dead by suicide by hanging.
Rodriguez commented, “Nicky was an absolute joy on and off the camera. A true artist. A friend.” Linklater said Katt “had a deep love for the character actors of cinema history, and I think saw himself that way…I think he probably over-filled all his roles, which makes him memorable…That brilliant spark will be missed.”
If you or anyone you know is dealing with depression and thoughts of suicide, a hotline is just a quick phone call at 988. You can also go to https://988lifeline.org/
Rest in power, Nicky.
What was your favorite movie or role of his? Please comment.
Zane Says 