Actor Nicky Katt died Tuesday at the age of 54, according to his personal attorney.
Lawyer John Sloss confirmed Katt passed away in Burbank, California, but declined to provide further details.
A native of South Dakota, Katt began his career as a child actor, making his screen debut in a 1980 episode of “Fantasy Island.”
He went on to land recurring roles on TV’s “Herbie, the Love Bug” and voicing Leland Lizard in the children’s cartoon “The Get Along Gang.”
As an adult, Katt carved out a niche playing menacing, morally murky characters, from high school bully Clint Bruno in Richard Linklater’s ’70s-set coming-of-age classic “Dazed and Confused” to a white supremacist child rapist in the 1996 legal drama “A Time to Kill.”
On the small screen, Katt spent three seasons on David E. Kelley’s drama “Boston Public,” where he brought unexpected depth and empathy to the rebellious geology teacher Harry Senate.
He also had credits in “Love & War,” “Friends,” “Batman & Robin,” “Rules of Engagement,” “School of Rock,” “King of the Hill,” “Monk,” “Law & Order” and “Death Proof.”
Enjoy HuffPost Entertainment — Ad Free
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
His final screen appearance was a 2018 guest role on the Hulu comedy “Casual.”
Though Katt once hinted at leading man aspirations in a 2002 interview with the Los Angeles Times, he admitted he was drawn to darker, more complex roles.
“Sometimes I think if I did more sit-ups and went to the tanning salon, I could have a lot more power than I do now,” he said. “At the end of the day, you do what your gut tells you to do.”
