Nicky Katt

Katt was born Agustin Islas in Acapulco, Mexico, on May 11, 1970,^[1][2] to American costume designer Carol Katt and Mexican musician Agustín Islas, the bassist for the Mexican rock band El Klan.^[1] He was raised in the Los Angeles area, attending St. Paul's Lutheran School in North Hollywood before graduating from Providence High School in Burbank.^[1]

Katt began his career as a child actor, professionally taking his mother's surname. He adopted the name Nicky at the suggestion of comedian Harvey Korman.^[1] He made his career debut in a 1980 episode of the television series Fantasy Island,^[3] followed by his first film role in Underground Aces (1981), and further TV roles in episodes of CHiPs, Father Murphy, and V.^[4]

As an adult, he was known for his role as unorthodox teacher Harry Senate on David E. Kelley's Fox drama series Boston Public.^[5][6] He was often cast as a villain, including as a murderous cop on the take in Monk, an irascible motorhead in Dazed and Confused, an ill-fated white supremacist child rapist in A Time to Kill, and an embittered business rival in Boiler Room.^[7] Katt's other roles include Tim in SubUrbia (1996),^[8] Stacy the hitman in The Limey (1999),^[9] Adolf Hitler in Full Frontal (2002),^[10] Fred Duggar in Insomnia (2002),^[11] Stuka in Sin City (2005), and Nate Petite in Snow Angels (2008).^[12] He voiced the character Atton Rand in Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords.^[13]

In 2004, he appeared in the Off-Broadway production of the Woody Allen play A Second Hand Memory.^[14]

Katt's last acting appearance was a 2018 episode of the television series Casual. In 2020, he participated in a virtual table read with the cast of Dazed and Confused.^[15]

Katt was married to Annie Morse from 1999 until their divorce in 2001.^[16] He resided in Ben Lomond, California, in his final years, where he cared for his mother until her death in 2023.^[1]

Katt was found dead by his landlord who went to collect his overdue rent on April 8, 2025, at his home in Burbank, California. He was 54, and had died by suicide by hanging. Katt appeared to have been dead for several days before his body was discovered.^[13][17][18]

Several of Katt's former collaborators paid tribute to the actor.^[1] Richard Linklater wrote, "Nicky 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."^[1] Robert Rodriguez said, "Nicky was an absolute joy on and off the camera. A true artist. A friend."^[1]

Film

More information Year, Title ...

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1981	Underground Aces	Son
1984	Gremlins	Schoolchild
1989	The 'Burbs	Steve Kuntz
1990	Martians Go Home	Hippie
1992	Sister Act	Waiter
1993	Dazed and Confused	Clint Bruno
	American Yakuza	Vic		[19]
1995	The Doom Generation	Carnoburger Cashier
	The Cure	"Pony"		[20]
	Strange Days	Joey Corto
	The Babysitter	Mark		[19]
1996	A Time to Kill	Billy Ray Cobb		[19]
	subUrbia	Tim		[19]
	Johns	"Mix"		[19]
1997	Nowhere	Scary Drag Queen	(as Nicolette Gato)	[21]
	Batman & Robin	"Spike"
1998	Phantoms	Deputy Steve Shanning		[19]
	One True Thing	Jordan Belzer		[19]
	Delivered	Barry		[19]
1999	The Limey	Stacy		[19]
2000	Boiler Room	Greg Weinstein		[22]
	Rules of Engagement	Hayes Lawrence Hodges III
	The Way of the Gun	Obecks		[19]
2001	Waking Life	Himself
2002	Insomnia	Detective Fred Duggar		[19]
	Full Frontal	Hitler		[19]
	Speakeasy	Frank Marnikov		[19]
2003	I Love Your Work	Goateed Man
	Secondhand Lions	Stan		[19]
	School of Rock	"Razor"
2004	Riding the Bullet	Ferris		[19]
2005	Sin City	Stuka
2006	World Trade Center	Volunteer Fireman
2007	Snow Angels	Nate Petite		[19]
	Planet Terror	Joe
	Death Proof	Counter Guy
	The Brave One	Detective Vitale		[19]
2008	Harold	Police Officer #1
	The Dark Knight	S.W.A.T. Member	Uncredited	[23]
2011	The Sitter	NYPD Officer

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Television

More information Year, Title ...

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1980	Fantasy Island	Bookie	Episode: "The Devil and Mandy Breem/Instant Millionaire"; uncredited	[19]
1981	CHiPs	Pat McGuire	Episode: "Diamond in the Rough"	[19]
	Father Murphy	Chester	2 episodes
1982	Code Red	Kenny	Episode: "Burnout"
	Herbie, the Love Bug	Matthew MacLane	5 episodes
	Voyagers!	Jack, The Artful Dodger	Episode: "The Day the Rebs Took Lincoln"
	Trapper John, M.D.	Scott Spencer	Episode: "The Good Life"	[19]
1983	Quincy, M.E.	Jeff Reano	Episode: "Suffer the Little Children"
1984	V	Sean Donovan	2 episodes	[19]
	The Get Along Gang	Leland Lizard (voice)	7 episodes
	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Jeff Anastas	Episode: "Contract for Life: The S.A.D.D. Story"
1988	The Facts of Life	Mark	Episode: "Present Imperfect"	[19]
1989–90	Dear John	Amorous Male Student	2 episodes	[19]
1990	Lifestories	Paul Albertson	Episode: "The Hawkins Family"
1991	Uncle Buck	Tommy	Episode: "In Tia We Trust"
1992	Love & War	Clerk	Episode: "Bustiers and Body Points"
1994	Knight Rider 2010	Johnny	Television film
1995	Double Rush	Nicky	Episode: "The Show We Wrote the Day We Found Out We Were Going on Opposite Roseanne"
1996	Friends	Arthur	Episode: "The One with the Bullies"	[19]
	Kindred: The Embraced	Starkweather	Episode: "Nightstalker"	[19]
2000–02	Boston Public	Harry Senate	49 episodes	[19]
2003	The Guardian	Evan Piscarek	2 episodes	[19]
2003–04	King of the Hill	Various voices	3 episodes	[19]
2006	Monk	Sergeant Ryan Sharkey	Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Captain's Marriage"	[19]
	Love Monkey	Nathan Kitt	Episode: "Confidence"	[19]
2007	Law & Order	Isaac "Iced Out Ike" Krantz	Episode: "Bling"	[19]
2013	Behind the Candelabra	Mr. Y	Television film
2018	Casual	Cyril	Episode: "Polytropos"; final role

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Video games

More information Year, Title ...

Year	Title	Voice role	Notes	Ref.
2004	Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords	Atton Rand		[24]

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