André Braugher Dies: Star Of ‘Homicide: Life On The
Street’, ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ & Other Series And Films Was 61
DEADLINE
By Mike Fleming Jr.
December 12. 2023
André Braugher has died. The two-time Emmy-winning star
of series including Homicide: Life on the Street, Men of a Certain Age and
Brooklyn Nine-Nine was 61. Braugher, whose first film role came alongside
Matthew Broderick and Denzel Washington in the Ed Zwick-directed Glory, died on
Monday after a brief illness.
While Braugher peppered his resume with comedies, many
will remember him for his ferocious portrayal as Detective Frank Pembleton in
the NBC drama Homicide: Life on the Street. Put him in the box, sweating out
and outsmarting crime suspects in the interrogation room, and you were looking
at a weekly dose of tour de force acting, as good as it got on television
during that period of time. He won an Emmy for that show he starred in from
1992-98 and Homicide is also where he met his wife, actress Ami Brabson. Along
with her, Braugher leaves behind sons Michael, Isaiah and John Wesley, as well
as his brother Charles Jennings and his mother Sally Braugher. He also leaves
behind WME agent Brandt Joel, attorney Keith Klevan and his publicist Jennifer
Allen of Viewpoint, his rep team for the past 25 years.
He won the Emmy in 1998, as well as two Television
Critics Association Awards in 1997 and 1998.
Born and raised in Chicago — he earned a B.A. from
Stanford University and an M.F.A. from Juilliard — Braugher most recently
co-starred in She Said, the drama film retelling of the New York Times
journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohy, whose reporting led to the prosecution
of Harvey Weinstein and sparked the #MeToo movement. He starred as Dean Baquet,
the Times’ Executive Editor who oversaw the two reporters.
Braugher was going to star in the Netflix show Residence
as his next project. He also starred in the sixth and final season of
Paramount+’s legal drama The Good Fight, alongside Christine Baranski and Audra
McDonald. He starred as showman lawyer and rainmaker Ri’Chard Lane.
For eight seasons, Braugher starred alongside Andy
Samberg in the hit comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and he won two Critics
Choice Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and received four
Emmy Award nominations for his role as Captain Ray Holt in the series.
Braugher before that starred on the acclaimed TNT series
Men of a Certain Age alongside Ray Romano and Scott Bakula. He received two
Emmy nominations for his role as an anxiety-stricken diabetic dad on the show.
He also starred in the 2008 sci-fi miniseries The Andromeda Strain alongside
Benjamin Bratt and Eric McCormack for A&E.
He won an Emmy for Outstanding Performance by a Lead
Actor in a Mini-Series and a Golden Globe Award nomination for his starring
role in the miniseries Thief, which aired on FX. He also starred in the TNT
original four-hour miniseries Salem’s Lot based on the bestselling novel by
Stephen King. Prior to that film, he starred in the Showtime Original Film A
Soldier’s Girl.
Braugher starred in the acclaimed CBS series Hack
opposite David Morse and in the Showtime Original Film 10,000 Black Men Named
George with Charles Dutton and Mario Van Peebles for director Robert Townsend.
He served as executive producer on the latter film, and he received an NAACP
Award nomination for his role as A. Philip Randolph. He also starred in the ABC
drama series Gideon’s Crossing, getting Emmy and Golden Globe noms for
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Dr. Ben Gideon.
Braugher made his directorial debut with one vignette of
the Showtime trilogy Love Songs, in which he also starred, and he starred in
the TNT telefilm Passing Glory (1999) for director Steve James (Hoop Dreams).
Braugher received a second Emmy nomination in 1996 for
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Mini-Series for his work in the
Peabody-winning HBO production The Tuskeegee Airmen.
His other television credits include the ABC drama Last
Resort; reprising his Emmy-winning role of Detective Frank Pembleton in the
two-hour NBC Special Homicide: The Movie (2000); the title role in The
Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson (1990); HBO’s Somebody Has to Shoot the
Picture (1990); and NBC’s Murder in Mississippi (1990). He began his television
career as the late Telly Savalas’ sidekick in television movies based on the
original Kojak series.
In addition to Braugher’s success on the small screen,
audiences have seen him star in a variety of feature film roles. He voiced a
role in the animated feature Spirit Untamed (2021); he co-starred in the
feature film Baytown Outlaws (2012); co-starred in Salt (2010) opposite
Angelina Jolie for director Phillip Noyce; co-starred in Passengers (2008)
opposite Anne Hathaway; in the Frank Darabont The Mist (2007) based on the
novel by King; in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007); in the
thriller Poseidon (2006); in Duets (2000) opposite Gwyneth Paltrow for director
Bruce Paltrow; in the independent feature A Better Way to Die (2000); and
alongside Dennis Quaid in the critically praised film Frequency (2000). Before
that he starred with Alec Baldwin in the independent film Thick As Thieves
(1999), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and later aired on HBO.
He was was a part of an ensemble cast that included Jeff Daniels, Gary Sinise,
Joan Allen and Anna Paquin in director Jim Stern’s All The Rage (1999), and
starred in City of Angels (1998) with Nicolas Cage, Meg Ryan and Dennis Franz.
Other feature turns included Primal Fear (1996) with
Richard Gere, which marked his first collaboration with Frequency director
Gregory Hoblit; Spike Lee’s Get on the Bus (1996); and Glory (1989), the
Oscar-winning story of America’s first unit of Black soldiers during the Civil
War.
On the live stage, Braugher appeared at the New York
Shakespeare Festival in Measure for Measure; Twelfth Night; in the title role
of Henry V, which earned him an Obie Award; and in As You Like It.
At Joseph Papp’s Public Theater, he performed in The Way
of the World and Shakespeare’s Richard II and Coriolanus. He played Iago in the
Folger Shakespeare Festival production of Othello and performed the title role
in Macbeth for the Philadelphia Drama Guild.
He also starred in the Manhattan Theatre Club’s New York
premiere of Matthew Lopez’s The Whipping Man.
Braugher presented the New York premiere of Oni Faida
Lampley’s Tough Titty along with his wife Brabson, who starred in the lead role
in the play. Inspired by Lampley’s own experiences, Tough Titty follows a woman
whose breast cancer diagnosis sends her on a journey of self-discovery as she
learns to face the disease, her family and her community.
He also starred in the world premiere of Tell Them I’m
Still Young by Julia Doolittle at the South Orange Performing Arts Center.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the
Classical Theatre of Harlem, where Braugher served on the board.
BRAUGHER, Andre
Born: 7/1/1962, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
Died: 12/11/2023, U.S.A.
Andre Braugher’s western – actor, voice actor.
Glory – 1989 (Corporal Thomas Searles)
Spirit Untamed – 2021 [voice Al Granger]
