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.
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Nominations
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
Movies
12 Years a Slave, The Runner, The Last of Robin Hood, Jeffrey, Funny People, Wiener Dog Internationals, Abattoir, Brawler, Sam, The Book of Love, Po, B-Side, The Palooka
TV Shows
Mad Men
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Quote
1
[on his role of Salvatore Romano in 'Mad Men'] I've played tons of different characters and some are gay and some are straight. I thought the character description that Matthew [Weiner] wrote he is clearly gay to modern audiences, but in the 1960s no one knows. Basically, all I did was I had to play as straight as possible and monitor my movements, and how I held my cigarette. That was a little flourish that I could have fun with.
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Fact
1
Batt and his longtime romantic partner, Tom Cianfichi, were together for 25 years before getting married on September 28, 2014, in New Orleans.
2
Release of his memoir, "She Ain't Heavy, She's My Mother". [April 2010]
3
Living in New Orleans between filming episodes of Mad Men (2007). [March 2008]
4
Starring off-Broadway in the premiere of the latest edition of Forbidden Broadway (FB Cleans Up Its Act). [1998]
5
Stand in and understudy for the character of Percy/Pimpernel in The Scarlet Pimpernel. [1999]
6
Standing by for the role of Albin in the Broadway revival of La Cage Aux Folles. [April 2005]
7
Nominated for a Drama Desk award for his role in Forbidden Broadway Cleans Up Its Act. [1999]
8
Starring in the Broadway remake of Saturday Night Fever (1977), in the role of "The DJ". [1999]
9
Bryan Batt told The Huffington Post that he and his romantic partner, Tom Cianfichi, have been together since 1989.
10
Bryan Batt missed his first audition to play Salvatore on Mad Men (2007) because he and his boyfriend, Tom Cianfichi, already had a commitment to take their goddaughter, Ramsey Schmitz, to Paris to repay her for several things she had done for them during Hurricane Katrina (including evacuating Batt's mother from New Orleans). The "Mad Men" showrunners asked Batt to come in again, and so after the Paris trip he was able to audition and get the role.
11
With his business and life partner, Tom Cianfichi, Batt co-owns a New Orleans home design and gift store called Hazelnut.
Under Review
