Mark Patton

Mark Patton is an American actor and interior designer born on September 22, 1959, in Riverside, Missouri. After completing high school, he relocated to New York City to pursue a professional acting career, beginning that career in 1982.

Patton's Broadway work includes two productions: Almost an Eagle and Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. His role in the latter, a 1982 Broadway production, cast him as Joe Qualley, a character written as a pre-transition teen transgender woman. He reprised the role in the 1982 film adaptation of the same title, directed by Robert Altman. During this period, those guiding his career prevented him from giving an interview to the LGBTQ publication The Advocate, a decision Patton has identified as reflecting the homophobia present in Hollywood at that time.

In 1985, Patton took on the lead role of Jesse Walsh in A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, portraying a teenager whose body is possessed by Freddy Krueger. The film attracted attention for its gay subtext, which screenwriter David Chaskin initially attributed to Patton's performance. In the 2010 documentary Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy, however, Chaskin acknowledged that he himself had deliberately written the subtext into the screenplay. Patton has since been recognized as the first male equivalent of a scream queen in mainstream cinema. The emotional toll of the production contributed to his decision to leave acting and transition into a career in interior decorating.

His additional television and film credits include a guest appearance on Hotel alongside George Clooney and Maud Adams, the role of Greg Collier on General Hospital, an unaired television pilot titled Kelsey's Son with Chuck Connors, 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 has also described walking away from a planned CBS series after being asked to publicly deny his sexuality while playing a gay character, citing the AIDS crisis and the nature of that request as the breaking point that led him to leave Hollywood.

Patton returned to acting with the 2016 horror film Family Possessions, his first screen role since A Nightmare on Elm Street 2. In 2021, he appeared alongside fellow Elm Street alumni Lisa Wilcox and Danny Hassel in the LGBTQ-themed horror film Reunion From Hell 2, marking the first time three performers from the Elm Street franchise collaborated on a project unrelated to that series.

On his 40th birthday in 1999, Patton was diagnosed with HIV after initially being tested for bronchitis. He was subsequently hospitalized with pneumonia, thrush, and tuberculosis. Following his recovery, he moved to Mexico, where he met and married Hector Morales Mondragon. The couple own and operate an art store in Puerto Vallarta. In January 2023, Patton was hospitalized in Mexico and, through his manager, confirmed that his diagnosis had progressed to AIDS. He has donated a significant portion of his horror convention appearance fees to HIV treatment organizations and LGBTQ youth charities including The Trevor Project.