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Bryan Batt

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Bryan Batt
Batt in September 2009
Born (1963-03-01) March 1, 1963 (age 61)
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actor, Author
Partner(s)Tom Cianfichi
(1993–present)

Bryan Batt (born March 1, 1963) is an American actor best known for his role in the AMC series Mad Men as Salvatore Romano, an art director for the Sterling Cooper agency. Primarily a theater actor, he has had a number of starring roles in movies and television as well. His performance in the musical adaptation of Saturday Night Fever earned him one of New York City's more unusual honors, a caricature at Sardi's.[1]

Personal life

Batt was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of Gayle (Mackenroth), an amateur actress, dancer, and civic activist, and John Batt.[2][3][4] His family founded and ran the Pontchartrain Beach amusement park.[5] He attended and graduated from Isidore Newman School, a preparatory school in New Orleans and Tulane University where he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity.[6] While Batt played a closeted character in Mad Men, the actor is openly gay. He has played gay roles on film (Jeffrey and Kiss Me, Guido) and stage (La Cage aux Folles). In 2005, Batt told Playbill that he used to worry about the effect of coming out on his career:

When I played the lead in Sunset Blvd., the movie of Jeffrey was coming out, and I was petrified. Back then, every agent told you that if you want to play a straight role, you don’t come out. This was before Ellen [DeGeneres] came out. But now I couldn't give a rat’s ass. It’s normal to be gay.[7]

Bryan Batt lives with his partner, Tom Cianfichi, an event planner.[8] Batt and Cianfichi have been together more than 21 years; they met while performing Evita in Akron, Ohio.[9] Batt was playing Che and Cianfichi was the understudy for Magaldi.[7] Batt and Cianfichi own a home decor and furnishings store, Hazelnut, on Magazine Street in New Orleans.[5] In 2010 Batt published a memoir about his mother entitled She Ain't Heavy, She's My Mother; she died in December 2010.[3][10] In 2011 Clarkson Potter published his second book Big, Easy, Style which focuses on interior design and home furnishings.[11]

Works

Film

Theater

  • Broadway
  • Off-Broadway
    • Forbidden Broadway Cleans Up Its Act (OBC Recording, nominated for Drama Desk Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical)
    • Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back! – Various (Triad Theater, New Original Cast, OBC Recording)
    • Jeffrey – Darius (Minetta Lane,WPA/Christopher Ashley)
    • Too Many Girls – Al (ELT)
    • The Golden Apple – Patroclus (York Theater)
    • Give My Regards to Broadway (Carnegie Hall/David Bell)
    • I Love New York (Rainbow and Stars – Bistro Award, OBC Recording)
  • Los Angeles
    • Jeffrey – Darius ( Westwood Playhouse) LA Drama-Logue Award
  • Regional
    • Evita – Che (Carousel Dinner Theater)
    • Grease – Kenicke (Darien Dinner Theater)
    • Trixie True: Teen Detective – Dick Dickerson (Boston Post Road Stage Co.)
    • Romeo and Juliet – Paris (New Orleans Center Stage)
    • The Lover – John (New Orleans Center Stage)
    • Action – Jeep (New Orleans Center Stage)

Television

Book

  • She Ain't Heavy, She's My Mother: A Memoir (Random House, 2010), ISBN 978-0-307-58885-2
  • Big, Easy Style (Clarkson Potter Publishers, 2011), ISBN 978-0-307-59190-6

References

  1. ^ "Bryan Batt & Kristin Chenoweth Get Hung Up At Sardi's Jan. 20", Playbill. January 21, 2000.
  2. ^ "Bryan Batt Biography (1963–)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 2013-12-04.
  3. ^ a b Paula Devlin, "Gayle Batt, civic activist and mother of actor Bryan Batt, dies at 79", Times-Picayune, December 21, 2010.
  4. ^ "Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home and Cemeteries | New Orleans, LA". Lakelawn.tributes.com. Retrieved 2013-12-04.
  5. ^ a b Joyce Wadler, "An Actor Really Sells His Material", New York Times, August 16, 2007.
  6. ^ Sue Strachan, "Persona: Bryan Batt", New Orleans Magazine, January 2009.
  7. ^ a b "The Leading Men: Going to Batt Archived August 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine", Playbill, Wayman Wong. October 3, 2005.
  8. ^ "Saturday Night Fever – Bryan Batt", The Advocate, Andrew Velez. December 7, 1999.
  9. ^ "[1]", "Bryan Batt Talks Sal's 'Mad Men' Fate, Hollywood's Gay Problem", March 16, 2010.
  10. ^ Craig Wilson, "Q&A: 'Mad Men' star Bryan Batt and his tribute to mom Gayle", USA Today, May 6, 2010.
  11. ^ Needles, Tim. "We talk with Mad Men's Bryan Batt". Short and Sweet NYC. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
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