Mark Patton

{{short description|American interior designer and actor (born 1959)}} {{About|the American actor|the British archaeologist|Mark Patton (archaeologist)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{BLP sources|date = January 2021}} {{Infobox person  | name = Mark Patton | image = Mark Patton by Gage Skidmore.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Patton in 2023 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1959|9|22}} | birth_place = Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. | death_date =  | death_place = | occupation = Actor, interior designer | years_active = 1982–1986; 1999; 2015–present (as actor) | spouse = Hector Morales Mondragon | website =  }} '''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 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean'' and as Jesse Walsh in the 1985 horror film ''A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge'', a role for which he is touted as the first "scream king" (male equivalent of scream queen) in modern cinema.

== Career == Patton grew up in Riverside, Missouri, and, after graduating from high school, moved to New York City to pursue an acting career.<ref name = hiv/> Within a few years, he landed the role of Joe Qualley in the 1982 Broadway 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 woman. However, Patton was not allowed "by those guiding his career" to do an interview with the LGBTQ magazine ''The Advocate''. Patton identified this as indicative of homophobia in Hollywood at that time.<ref name=hiv>{{cite journal| url=http://www.hivplusmag.com/people/cover-stories/2013/08/08/nightmare-hollywood-couldnt-kill-mark-patton| title=A Nightmare in Hollywood Couldn't Kill Mark Patton| date=August 8, 2013| last=Peeples| first=Jase| journal=HIV Plus| accessdate=January 24, 2016}}</ref>

In 1985, Patton landed the lead role in the horror film ''A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge'', portraying Jesse Walsh, a teen whose body becomes possessed by Freddy Krueger.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/34384/never-sleep-again-twitterfeed-wednesday-edition-and-more |title=Never Sleep Again – Twitterfeed Wednesday Edition and MORE! |publisher=DreadCentral |date=November 5, 2009 |last=Barton |first=Steve |access-date=May 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091107111010/http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/34384/never-sleep-again-twitterfeed-wednesday-edition-and-more |archive-date=November 7, 2009}}</ref> Critics and audiences noted the gay subtext of the film, something screenwriter David Chaskin initially attributed to Patton's portrayal of Jesse.<ref name = hiv /> 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. The emotional stress of the film led Patton to leave acting shortly afterwards for a career in interior decorating.<ref name="Buzzfeed article">{{cite news|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/louispeitzman/the-nightmare-behind-the-gayest-horror-film-ever-made|title=The Nightmare Behind The Gayest Horror Film Ever Made|last=Peitzman|first=Louis|date=February 21, 2016|newspaper=BuzzFeed|access-date=February 21, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160222003005/http://www.buzzfeed.com/louispeitzman/the-nightmare-behind-the-gayest-horror-film-ever-made|archive-date=February 22, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

Patton made a guest appearance on the television series ''Hotel'' and had scenes alongside George Clooney and Maud Adams. He also starred in a television pilot with Chuck Connors entitled ''Kelsey's Son'', which was never picked up.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1893&dat=19830821&id=prYfAAAAIBAJ&pg=3017,4608996| last=Bobbin| first=Jay| title=Kelsey's Son| work=Southeast Missourian| date=August 21, 1983| accessdate=January 24, 2016}}</ref> Other roles include ''General Hospital'' as Greg Collier, ''Misplaced'' with John Cameron Mitchell, ''Anna to the Infinite Power'' with Dina Merrill and Martha Byrne, and ''Have You Tried Talking to Patty'' with Heather Langenkamp.

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 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."<ref name=hiv />

Patton returned to acting for the first time since ''A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge'' with his appearance in the 2016 horror film ''Family Possessions''.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} In 2021 Patton joined fellow "A Nightmare On Elm Street" alumni Lisa Wilcox and Danny Hassel in the LGTBQ+ themed horror film "Reunion From Hell 2" marking the first time that 3 "Elm Street" alumni have ever worked on a project together that was not "Elm Street" related.{{cn|date=February 2026}}

==Personal life== Patton was diagnosed with HIV in 1999, on his 40th birthday, after falling ill and initially being tested for bronchitis; he was subsequently hospitalized for pneumonia, thrush, and tuberculosis. In a 2013 interview, Patton said, "I almost died [in the hospital], but thankfully my friends took me to an AIDS health clinic, which saved my life."<ref name = hiv/> 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.<ref name = hiv />

Patton appears in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' documentary ''Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy'', directed by Dan Farrands.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/34479/never-sleep-again-after-decades-mark-patton-talks-elm-street-2| title=Never Sleep Again: After Decades ... Mark Patton Talks Elm Street 2| publisher=DreadCentral| date=November 10, 2009| author=thehorrorchick}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/34501/never-sleep-again-a-talk-with-directors-daniel-farrands-and-andrew-kasch| title=Never Sleep Again: A Talk with Directors Daniel Farrands and Andrew Kasch| publisher=DreadCentral| date=November 11, 2009| author=thehorrorchick}}</ref> 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 LGBTQ youth such as The Trevor Project.<ref name=hiv />

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.<ref name=gofundme>{{cite web| url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/nightmare-on-elm-street-2-star-mark-patton-gofundme-medical-bills-184021365.html| title='Nightmare on Elm Street 2' star Mark Patton asks for help with medical bills: 'I will not be embarrassed'| date=January 15, 2023| last=Johnson| first=Megan| publisher=Yahoo! News| accessdate=January 16, 2023}}</ref>

==Filmography== ===Film=== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- |1982 |''Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean'' |Joe Qualley |Feature film |- |1982 |''Anna to the Infinite Power'' |Rowan Hart |TV film |- |1985 |''A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge'' |Jesse Walsh |Feature film |- |1989 |''Misplaced'' |Roughneck | |- |2003 |''Freddy vs. Jason'' |Jesse Walsh |Archive footage; special thanks |- |2010 |''Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy'' |Himself |Documentary |- |2016 |''Family Possessions'' |Tyson |Feature film |- |2017 |''Amityville: Evil Never Dies'' |James |Feature film |- |2019 |''Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street'' |Himself |Documentary |- |2022 |''Swallowed'' |Rich |Feature film |- |2022 |''The Once and Future Smash'' |Himself |Mockumentary |}

===Television=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- |1983 |''Kelsey's Son'' |Tim Kelsey |Television pilot |- |1986 |''CBS Schoolbreak Special'' |Chris Jenson |Episode: "Have You Tried Talking to Patty?" |- |1986 |''Hotel'' |Todd Radcliff |Episode: "Recriminations" |}

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == * {{IMDb name}} * [https://www.facebook.com/pg/officialmarkpatton/about/?ref=page_internal Facebook page] {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patton, Mark}} Category:1959 births Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people Category:20th-century American male actors Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people Category:21st-century American male actors Category:American emigrants to Mexico Category:American gay actors Category:American interior designers Category:American male film actors Category:LGBTQ designers Category:LGBTQ people from Missouri Category:Living people Category:Male actors from Missouri Category:People from Platte County, Missouri Category:People from Puerto Vallarta Category:People with HIV/AIDS