Mark Patton (born September 22, 1959) is an American interior designer and actor. Beginning his professional acting career in 1982, Patton is perhaps best known for his feature film roles as Joe Qualley in the dramatic film ''
Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean'' and as
Jesse Walsh
Jesse Walsh is a fictional character in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' franchise. He was created by David Chaskin and portrayed by Mark Patton. Making his debut in '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge'' in 1985, Jesse became the ...
in the 1985 horror film ''
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge'', a role for which he is touted as the first male
scream queen in modern cinema.
Career
Patton grew up in
Riverside, Missouri
Riverside is a city in Platte County, Missouri and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area within the United States. The population was 2,937 at the 2010 census.
History
Riverside lies on the edge of the Missouri River and was formally ...
, and, after graduating high school, moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
to pursue an acting career.
[ Within a few years, he landed the role of Joe Qualley in the 1982 ]Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
production of '' Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean''. Patton reprised the role in the 1982 film of the same name. His character in the play and film was a pre-transition teen transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
woman. However, Patton was not allowed to do an interview with the LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is a ...
-interest magazine '' The Advocate''. Patton identified this as an early indicator of the homophobia
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...
in Hollywood at that time.
In 1985, Patton landed the lead role in the horror film '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge'', portraying Jesse Walsh
Jesse Walsh is a fictional character in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' franchise. He was created by David Chaskin and portrayed by Mark Patton. Making his debut in '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge'' in 1985, Jesse became the ...
, a teen whose body becomes possessed by Freddy Krueger
Freddy Krueger () is a fictional character and the primary antagonist in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series. He was created by Wes Craven and made his debut in Craven's ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) as the malevolent spirit ...
. Critics and audiences noted the gay subtext of the film, something screenwriter David Chaskin initially attributed to Patton's portrayal of Jesse. However, in the 2010 documentary '' Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy'', Chaskin acknowledged that he, himself, was responsible for the film's deliberate gay subtext.
Patton had a guest appearance on the television series ''Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...
'' and had scenes alongside George Clooney and Maud Adams. He also starred in a television pilot
A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...
with Chuck Connors
Kevin Joseph Aloysius "Chuck" Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have p ...
entitled ''Kelsey's Son'', which was never picked up. Other roles include ''General Hospital
''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...
'' as Greg Collier, ''Misplaced'' with John Cameron Mitchell
John Cameron Mitchell (born April 21, 1963) is a two-time Tony Award winning American actor, playwright, screenwriter, singer, songwriter, producer and director. He is best known as the writer, director and star of the 2001 film '' Hedwig and th ...
, ''Anna to the Infinite Power
''Anna to the Infinite Power'' is a 1982 science-fiction thriller film about a young teenager who learns that she was the product of a cloning experiment. The film was based on the 1981 novel of the same name by Mildred Ames. It was produced by ...
'' with Dina Merrill
Dina Merrill (born Nedenia Marjorie Hutton; December 29, 1923 – May 22, 2017) was an American actress, heiress, socialite, businesswoman, and philanthropist.
Early life
Merrill was born in New York City on December 29, 1923, but for man ...
and Martha Byrne
Mary Martha Byrne (born December 23, 1969) is an American actress, singer and television writer. She played the role of Lily Walsh Snyder on the soap opera ''As the World Turns'' from 1985 to 1989, then again from 1993 to 2008; as well as, from ...
, and ''Have You Tried Talking to Patty'' with Heather Langenkamp
Heather Elizabeth Langenkamp (born July 17, 1964) is an American actress. She is considered an influential figure in horror films and in popular culture, noted for her acting in several works of the genre and her behind-the-scenes work coordinat ...
.
Patton says he gave up on his acting career following being cast in a planned CBS series in which he would have played a gay character. "They began to ask me if I would be comfortable playing a gay character and telling people I was straight if they began to question my sexuality? ..All I could think about was how everyone I knew was dying from AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
and we were having this bullshit conversation. My heart just broke and that was the line for me. I knew I would never be able to do what they were asking, so I walked away from Hollywood and decided to move on to a place where it was totally acceptable to be gay."
Patton returned to acting for the first time since '' Freddy's Revenge'' with his appearance in the 2016 horror film ''Family Possessions''.
Personal life
Patton was diagnosed with HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
in 1999, on his 40th birthday, after falling ill and initially being tested for bronchitis
Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. ...
; he was subsequently hospitalized for pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
, thrush, and tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
. In a 2013 interview, Patton said, "I almost died n the hospital
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
...
but thankfully my friends took me to an AIDS health clinic, which saved my life."[ Upon recovering, he moved to Mexico, where he met and later married Hector Morales Mondragon. The couple own and operate an art store in ]Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta ( or simply Vallarta) is a Mexican beach resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas in the Mexican state of Jalisco.
Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadala ...
.
Patton appears in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street
''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' is a 1984 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' franchise and stars Heather Langenkamp ...
'' documentary '' Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy'', directed by Dan Farrands. Following his appearance in the documentary, Patton began touring horror conventions, where he is lauded as mainstream cinema's first male " scream queen". He donates most of his appearance fees to HIV treatment groups and charities benefiting LGBT youth such as The Trevor Project
The Trevor Project is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1998. Focused on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth, they offer a toll-free telephone number wher ...
.
In January 2023, Patton was forced to cancel several scheduled appearances in Chicago after he was hospitalized in Mexico. Through his manager, he released a statement confirming that his diagnosis had progressed to AIDS and asking for assistance through a GoFundMe page.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
* https://www.facebook.com/pg/officialmarkpatton/about/?ref=page_internal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patton, Mark
1959 births
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American emigrants to Mexico
American interior designers
American male film actors
American gay actors
LGBT people from Missouri
Living people
Male actors from Missouri
People from Platte County, Missouri
People from Puerto Vallarta
People with HIV/AIDS