Nicky Katt in 1993’s Dazed and Confused; Nicky Katt on Feb. 28, 2008. Photo:
Universal; John Shearer/WireImage
- Nicky Katt’s death was first reported on Saturday, April 12
- He appeared in dozens of movies and television series during his 38-year acting career and last held an onscreen role in 2018
- “Nicky was an absolute joy on and off the camera,” filmmaker Robert Rodriguez wrote on Instagram in a tribute to the late actor
Nicky Katt‘s cause of death has been announced.
The actor, known for movies like Dazed and Confused, Full Frontal and Behind the Candelabra, died by suicide in his Los Angeles-area home, it was confirmed on Monday, April 15. He was 54.
“Nicky Katt has been identified and a manner of death has been established,” an L.A. Police Department spokesperson said in in a statement. “He died by suicide, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner.”
Katt’s death was first reported on Saturday, April 12.
Nicky Katt on March 7, 2013. Gary Miller/FilmMagic
Katt is credited with 75 acting roles between 1980 and 2018. He is perhaps best known for his appearance in 1993’s Dazed and Confused, in which he played the character Clint Bruno, who memorably gets into a fight with Adam Goldberg‘s character Mike Newhouse.
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In addition to that movie, notable films and television series Katt appeared in include Sister Act, Friends, A Time to Kill, Rules of Engagement, Insomnia, Boston Public, Secondhand Lions, School of Rock and The Dark Knight, among others. Katt last appeared onscreen in a 2018 episode of the Hulu series Casual.
Robert Rodriguez, the filmmaker who worked with Katt on movies like Planet Terror, was among Hollywood figures who paid tribute to Katt following the news of his death.
Nicky Katt. SGranitz/WireImage
“He’d come in incredibly prepared for a role with costumes and props. He’d come full of inventive and creative ideas that would make his characters pop off the screen and consistently have an audience howling,” Rodriguez wrote in an Instagram post he shared on Sunday, April 13. “He’d deliver lines that would constantly sound as unexpected as an ad lib, yet it was the text. And if he did adlib, it was always gold. Even his physical comedy and timing was truly on another level. Nicky was an absolute joy on and off the camera. A true artist. A friend.”
“It’s very sad to lose Nicky Katt. But I can only be grateful I got to know him, work with him, and watch him create his own truly original brand of magic that will live forever in his favorite medium,” Rodriguez added in that statement.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.
