Batso

About

Nicholas "Batso" Maccharoli
Renaissance man, Animal Activist, Health & Wellness Practitioner

Office: 203-556-5613 Height: 5'4 Weight: 165 Hair: Black Eyes: Brown
Email batso@optonline.net
Website: batso.com

FILM:
The Comedian (released Dec 2016)
The Wrestler (released Dec 2008)
Bobby Dogs (released June 2007)

TELEVISION:
FOX – GOTHAM (Season 4 2017)
National Geographic - Rescue Ink Unleashed (2009)
HBO series Oz – (final season 2003)
Levis Originals commercial (1999)
Your Custom Car Cruzin Connection (1992)
PM Magazine (1988)

PRINT:
Connecticut Magazine - Feats of Strength by Richard Chumney (November 2023)
CT Post - Stratford's "Batso" Marks 90th Birthday with Airplane Pull (Sept 10, 2023)
CT Post Batso celebrates 80th Birthday in unique fashion
Rescue Ink - Viking by Denise Flaim (2009)
Animal Fair - The Rescue Ink Team: Rewriting Tattoos While Blotting Out Animal Abuse (Winter Issue 2009)
CT Post - Going to Batso for Animals Tattooed TV Star to the Rescue (Dec 11, 2009)
NewsDay - Rescue Ink - What you don't know about these guys (Nov 15, 2009)
AARP Bulletin- Now Hear This Pet Project (October 2009)
National Enquirer - Bikers on a rampage against animal abuse (July 6, 2009)
NewsDay- Tough Guys are real pussy cats (Jan 8, 2009)
People - Tough Guys Tender Hearts (Oct 27, 2008)
Inked - Mad Dogs When it comes to saving animals the men of Rescue Ink have the bark and bite to back it up (Sept 2, 2008)
The New York Times - Heaven's Angels (Aug 24, 2008)
Globe - Real Pet Detectives are Ink-Credible! (May 19, 2008)
New York Post - Pet Heroes Are a Buncha Animals (Apr 28, 2008)
NewsDay - Rescue Ink Riding Shotgun with a band of tattooed men in search of pets in trouble (Apr 27, 2008)
New York Post - Ruff Guys to Rescue (Mar24, 2008)
Connecticut 24/7, by Rick Smolan and David Elliot Cohen is the sequel to the New York Times Best Seller America 24/7 (2004)
Wrestling star teaches moves to local enthusiasts (2000)
Weird Car ”Custom Cars" by John A. Gunnell (1993)
Custom Car Design Puts Imagination in Overdrive (1993)
Cam Magazine….”The Bats Revenge” by Tom Swenson (1991)
Outlaw Bikers Tattoo Review…”Tattoo’s By Danny Williams

WEB MEDIA:
DavidLynch.com presents Interview Project Season 1 Episode 53, Batso (Nov 4, 2009)
Brooklawn Productions - Carbon Man (2009)
Documentary - Interesting People Around the World (2008)

VIDEO:
YouTube Channel Batso Maccharoli
Martial Arts USA (1999)
MTV Eight to the Bar (1989)
Led Sleds (1987)

SPECIAL SKILLS/INTERESTS:

Animal advocate, actor, asian culture and martial arts practitioner, stereotype breaker - unique tough guy look fully tattooed with a personality that is inspiring and motivating for people to live a healthy lifestyle, weight lifter, antique and custom car creator and owner, soap maker, painter on canvas, learning to play bass guitar.

FITNESS ACHIEVEMENTS:

Batso holds the Connecticut State record for power lifting and took 2nd place in the Master Light division at the Connecticut Open Power Lifting Championships. He has trained with Ultimate Fighting Champion Steve Severn "The Beast" and 1997 World Shuai-chio Kung fu Champion Matt Furey.

BATSO PROFILE:

FAST FACTS:

Age: is just a number, 90
Marital status: Married 40+ years
Children: 2 sons, a stepson, 4 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren
Tattoos: Spider web, barbed wire, Buddha, bats
Hobbies: fitness workout, tai chi, bass guitar, painting, soap making
Favorite Dog: Pitbull
Favorite food: Japanese, Vietnamese
Favorite song: “The Last Kiss” by Frank J. Wilson
Celebrity Crush: Sandra Bullock
Actor to Play Him: Robert DeNiro
Acting Roles: Animal rescuer on "Rescue Ink Unleashed" on National Geographic, Biker gang member in “Oz;” bit part in “The Wrestler” Biker on Gotham Fox Series
Hero: Bruce Lee

BIOGRAPHY:

Batso was born Nicholas Richard Maccharoli in Bridgeport Connecticut, and lived in what was called the old yellow mill village. Back then education was not the priority, making money for the large family was. He developed a lifelong love and respect for animals tending livestock when he was young, and at age 12, he had a job in the Barnum & Bailey circus working with the trainers who cared for the lions and tigers that led him into being an animal rescuer. But not all of his childhood memories are pleasant. He admits his mother would hit him with a broom or tied him to a tree – because she could not control him. At 13, he was sent to a tough all-boys reform school in Connecticut for 1 year of hard labor picking tobacco. He got into trouble there often, fighting all the time, and quit school after the fifth grade. He never learned to properly read or write and basically managed through life as an illiterate.

At 14, he was shown how to hold a hammer and hit metal to learn the AutoBody business. He got into cars, learning how to fix and customize them. He says he could feel how much paint or lead to apply, trusting his intuition over standard methods of training. Who would have guessed this would lead him to being one of the best custom car creators in the automobile industry. He’s still in love with cars, especially the ones he customized for himself – a 1957 Ford convertible that says “Calling All Angels,” a 1950 Ford with a King Tut theme, and a 1951 Ford that he calls the Bat’s Revenge with bat-shaped parking lights and a front grill that resembles teeth. His artistic ability goes beyond auto body and onto his own body in the form of skin art.

Batso is tattooed from head to foot. Some of his unique pieces include a replica of his Bats Revenge car, a spider web in one ear, a snake in the other, a bat in flight on the back of his head and a Buddha on top. His art is from some of the worlds best tattoo artists such as Nomad, Crow, Zee and Tattoo Joe in the United States to Tattoo Gery of Austria.

Batso was perhaps the most recognizable of the Rescue Ink crew because of his myriad of tattoos. Batso was considered Rescue Ink’s “spiritual father.” He is first-generation Italian-American but has assimilated Eastern culture and traditions into his life. With his Fu Manchu pigtail and penetrating eyes, his outwardly appearance is like a Mongolian warrior yet on the inside is a tenderness ability to sense things with animals. He can feel their energy and connect with their pain or their happiness. After losing one of his sons to Lou Gehrig’s disease, he is committed to living a full life and achieving new goals, like overcoming illiteracy, pulling a car with his neck at age 80, and an airplane at age 90, and devoting his life to helping people and animals whenever and wherever he can, in his own unique way.

Batso has an outgoing personality and is a real showman. At any gathering he is the center of attention. It is not unusual that people stop him on the street just to talk to him or to take his picture because they find him interesting. His individuality made him a celebrity in various multimedia and has received trophies for his many achievements.


AUTOS:

Being an auto body man for 50 years has lent him experience that cannot be found today. All by hand, molding sheet metal by heating and shrinking it, and then welding it together.

Batso is the proud creator and owner of a 1951 Ford Business Coupe titled The Bats Revenge, a 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 Convertible titled Calling All Angels, and a 1950 Ford Business Coupe titled Tutankhamen. On one of the Rescue Ink episodes Batso's craft is at work in restoring the old ambulance into an animal rescue vehicle. After six years of auto shows he collected enough trophies and now attends only special events.

THE BATS REVENGE:

Wild custom displaying a bat theme.
Hand customized and welded with sheet metal.
Chopped the roof and hood. Shaped the hood into a V.
Recessed the front windshield.
Back window shaped in a bat design.
Rear end and front fenders are scalloped.
Smoked glass covers headlights with red bulb blinking flashers.
Parking lights are bat shaped design.
Front grill is cut to resemble teeth.
Antennas are recessed and light up.
Wheel spinners are cut from sheet metal in the shape of bats.
Doors and trunk open on a solenoid switch.
No door handles and gas tank is in the trunk.
Bat wing design frames license plate.
Diamond black lacquer paint with flames and murals airbrushed thru out.
Flathead V8 cylinder motor.
Customized dashboard, steering wheel, and shift.
Diamond tucked black and red upholstery trimmed in gold.
Unusual bat paraphernalia hang about the interior.

CALLING ALL ANGELS:

Restored to its original; not customized.
Original continental wheel with an airbrushed angel scene.
312 engine.
Red and white interior.
Fiesta red lacquer paint on exterior.

Tutankhamen (better known as King Tut)

Wild custom displaying an Egyptian theme.
Hand customized and welded with sheet metal.
The roof is chopped and the window is recessed.
Back and side windows are stained glass and shaped in a pyramid design.
Front parking lights are an Egyptian eye design.
Headlights and antennas are recessed.
Doors and trunk open on a solenoid switch.
No door handles and gas tank is in the trunk.
Purple lacquer paint with hieroglyphics airbrushed scenes on exterior and under hood.
V8 cylinder motor.
Customized dashboard, steering wheel and shift.
Purple and gold crushed velvet upholstery.
Unusual Egyptian trinkets throughout the interior.

TROPHIES:

1984 First Place
1984 Best Custom Radical 1st Place
1985 First Place
1986 First Place
1987 First Place
1988 First Place
1988 Most Unusual
1988 Peoples Choice
1988 Dream Machine of the Year
1989 Best Paint Custom
1989 Best Interior Custom
1989 Best Custom
1989 Most Unusual

Press

Batso Partners with Paw Pact Alliance Inc. (external link)

Batso Partners with Paw Pact Alliance Inc.