Bryan Batt

Bryan Batt
Batt in September 2009
Born	(1963-03-01) March 1, 1963 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Occupation	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.

Personal life

Batt was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of Gayle (Mackenroth), an amateur actress, dancer, and civic activist, and John Batt. His family founded and ran the Pontchartrain Beach amusement park. 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. 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.

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

Works

Film

• Flodder in Amerika! – Maître d'hôtel (First Floor Features – 1992)
• Jeffrey – Darius (Workin' Man Films 1995)
• Kiss Me, Guido – Tino (Sundance 1997)
• Hit and Runway – Carlos (1997)
• Funny People – George Simmons' Agent (2009)
• The Last of Robin Hood – Orryn Kelly (2013)
• 12 Years a Slave – Judge Turner (2013)
• Parkland – Malcolm Kilduff (2013)
• The Runner – (2015)

Theater

• Broadway
  • La Cage aux Folles – standby Albin (Marquis Theatre)
  • Beauty and the Beast – Lumiere (Lunt-Fontanne Theatre)
  • Seussical – Alternate Cat in the Hat (Richard Rodgers Theatre, Colonial Theatre, Boston tryout)
  • Saturday Night Fever – Monty (Minskoff Theatre)
  • The Scarlet Pimpernel – standby Percy/Pimpernel (Minskoff Theatre)
  • Sunset Boulevard – u/s Joe Gillis/Ensemble (Minskoff Theatre)
  • Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – Reuben, u/s Pharaoh (Minskoff Theatre)
  • Cats – Munkustrap (Winter Garden Theatre)
  • Starlight Express – Rocky I/Greaseball (Gershwin Theatre)
• 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 & Juliet – Paris (New Orleans Center Stage)
  • The Lover – John (New Orleans Center Stage)
  • Action – Jeep (New Orleans Center Stage)

Television

• Mad Men (AMC) – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Nominated 2007, won 2008, 2009.
• Guess Who's Coming to Decorate (Style)
• Rescue Me (FX)
• Guiding Light (CBS)
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent (NBC)
• The Cosby Show (NBC)
• Pulp Comics Special featuring Caroline Rhea (Comedy Central)
• As the World Turns (CBS)
• Ugly Betty (ABC) – Spencer ("The Past Presents the Future")
• Scream (MTV) – Quinn Maddox (Recurring)

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

External links

• Bryan Batt at the Internet Movie Database
• Bryan Batt at the Internet Broadway Database
• Website for Hazelnut, Bryan's store