Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth Interview with Bryan Batt, Award-Winning Actor, and Co-Star of “Mad Men”.
Bryan Batt is an award-winning actor, author and businessman who is perhaps best known for his portrayal of the closeted art director Sal Romano on the mega hit TV series, “Mad Men”, for which he won 2 Screen Actors Guild Awards along with his fellow castmates for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.
On Broadway, he’s appeared in many shows including “Cats”, “Starlight Express”, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “Sunset Boulevard”, “Saturday Night Fever”, “Seussical”, “The Scarlet Pimpernel” and “La Cage Aux Folles”.
On the big screen, you’ve seen him in “Jeffrey”, “Funny People”, “Brawler”, “B-Side”, “12 Years a Slave”, “Parkland”, “The Runner”, “LBJ”, “American Reject”, “High Tide”, “Easy Does It”, and many more movies. He also starred in the highly acclaimed short film, “The Palooka”, for which he earned 2 Best Actor Award nominations from the Massachusetts Independent Film Festival.
On TV, besides his memorable performance in “Mad Men”, he’s appeared in dozens of shows including “Ghost Whisperer”, “Ugly Betty”, “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”, “NCIS”, “Scream: The TV Series”, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”, “East Siders” and many more.
Bryan Batt has also written 3 bestselling books: a fascinating memoir entitled “She Ain’t Heavy, She’s My Mother”, “Big, Easy Style: Creating Rooms You Love to Live In”, which is a beautiful book about interior design and home décor, and “Pontchartrain Beach: A Family Affair”, about the famous New Orleans amusement park founded by his grandfather. And if all of that weren’t enough, Bryan Batt and his husband Tom are the owners of an extremely popular home furnishings and gift shop in New Orleans, called “Hazelnut”.
Bryan Batt is passionate in his support of charities and civic organizations in New York City and New Orleans, especially his more than 30-year relationship with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. He’s a recipient of the Isidore Newman Distinguished Alumnus Award, and on April the 13th, he will be the honoree at the New Orleans Film Society Gala.
Harvey Brownstone is a retired judge of the Ontario Court of Justice and was the first openly gay judge in Canada. He is also the bestselling author of “Tug of War: A Judge’s Verdict on Separation, Custody Battles and the Bitter Realities of Family Court” and hosted “Family Matters with Justice Harvey Brownstone,” a television talk show on matters involving the family justice system.
After a distinguished legal career, Harvey was appointed a judge at the age of 38 in 1995. He has presided in family and criminal courts. He has been a trailblazer in several ways. He was the first openly gay judge in Canada. He was the first sitting judge in the world to write a national best seller and to host a TV talk show.
Harvey has been a role model and icon in the LGBTQ community. When same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada in 2003, he was the only judge to make himself publicly available to officiate at weddings for lesbian and gay couples travelling to Toronto from all over the world to get married. In 2007, he officiated at the wedding of Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer, the American couple whose marriage triggered the 2013 United States Supreme Court decision overturning the definition of “spouse” in the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
In February 2021, Harvey launched his online talk show “Harvey Brownstone Interviews” on his own YouTube channel. He saw this as an interesting hobby. Within several months, the show attracted hundreds of thousands – and then eventually, millions – of viewers. Because of the overwhelming success of the show, Harvey decided to retire from the judiciary on December 31, 2021 after having presided as a full-time judge for 26 1/2 years. Free from the constraints imposed upon judges regarding the expression of opinions and the endorsement of private enterprise, Harvey now happily devotes his full-time attention to hosting “Harvey Brownstone Interviews” as a regular member of the public – albeit one with a rather illustrious and unique career history.
Watch Bryan Batt on Harvey Brownstone Interviews on Youtube here:
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