Nicky Katt, the respected character actor best known for “Dazed and Confused” and “Boston Public,” died by suicide at his Southern California home, according to a report published Monday. He was 54.
Katt’s body was found hanging inside his Burbank residence, TMZ reported. His landlord discovered the grisly scene on April 8.
The landlord had visited Katt five days earlier to ask for the month’s rent, sources told TMZ. When he came back, he found Katt’s body. Katt left no note, police said.
During his Hollywood career, Katt was well-known for playing antagonistic, unsympathetic characters in various films, most famously the bully Clint Bruno in “Dazed and Confused.”
“Nicky had a deep love for the character actors of cinema history, and I think saw himself that way,” director and frequent collaborator Richard Linklater told Deadline. “He made something unique out of it, bringing his wicked humor, unpredictability and smoldering quality to it.”
While commonly lauded for his villainous roles, Katt was also a standout as a teacher in “Boston Public.” When a cliffhanger in the show involved Katt’s character getting stabbed, the Daily News called his survival unsurprising: “He’s too charismatic to kill.”
Despite established partnerships with Linklater and Steven Soderbergh, and appearances in several popular films and TV shows including “A Time to Kill,” “The Dark Knight” and “Law & Order,” Katt held a cynical view of Hollywood.
“There’s so much desperation in the air, in Los Angeles especially,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 2002. “I think Stanley Kubrick called the vibe in L.A. a ‘low-level malevolence.’ It eats away at you at some point.”
