R.I.P. Andre Braugher, star of Homicide: Life On The Street and Brooklyn Nine-Nine
The actor, known for an unforgettable presence across dramas and comedies, was 61
Andre Braugher, the masterful actor who could bring just as hard an edge to drama as he could an uplifting warmth to comedy, has died. That’s according to Deadline, which says the Homicide and Brooklyn Nine-Nine star passed away after a “brief illness.” He was 61.
Like a lot of actors with a long career (his spanned more than 30 years), Braugher’s best-known role probably depends on how long you’ve been watching television. Some people will remember him best from Homicide: Life On The Street, others might recall him popping up in Frequency or The Mist or any number of other genre movies where he played a stern authority figure, but these days he’s certainly best known as Raymond Holt on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, a role that poked some fun at his typical onscreen persona and allowed Braugher to really stretch his legs as both a cold authoritarian and a surprisingly silly comedic performer.
Braugher was born in Chicago in 1962 and earned a scholarship to Stanford University, where he studied theater, followed by a time at prestigious acting school Julliard in New York. In 1989, just about a year after graduating, he made his film debut in Ed Zwick’s Glory as a Black man who chooses to join the Union army. At the same time, he also appeared in ABC’s Kojak revival as Winston Blake, the iconic TV cop’s young partner—kicking off a career full of soldier and cop roles.
Braugher’s biggest break of his early career came less than a decade later when he was cast as Detective Frank Pembleton on Homicide: Life On The Street (based on the book Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets by David Simon, eventual creator of The Wire). Braugher’s performance as the deeply religious and commanding detective helped make Pembleton the breakout character of the show, perhaps second only to Richard Belzer’s John Munch (who later moved over to Law & Order: SVU).
He won an Emmy for his role on Homicide in 1998, followed by another Emmy win (this time for playing a criminal) on FX’s Thief in 2006. He popped up as a psychiatrist on House and was one of the main stars of TNT’s short-lived comedy series Men Of A Certain Age alongside Ray Romano and Scott Bakula.
In 2013, Braugher joined Brooklyn Nine-Nine as the (apparently) anti-fun, super self-serious new commanding officer of a precinct staffed by a bunch of lovable comedy characters. But, as the series went on, Braugher showed Captain Holt’s walls breaking down, revealing a deep well of sensitivity and kindness that made him a father figure for everyone in the precinct—specially Andy Samberg’s Jake Peralta.
Braugher recently appeared on Paramount+’s The Good Fight and was set to star in a Netflix show called Residence that would’ve started filming next year.