Andre Braugher, the two-time Emmy Award-winning actor who starred in the hit television series “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “Homicide: Life on the Street,” died Monday after a brief illness. He was 61.
Braugher’s publicist, Jennifer Allen, confirmed the news of his death to Variety.
Braugher was known for his role as the upstanding Captain Raymond Holt on the police procedural comedy series “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” from 2013 to 2021. His character’s stoic and no-nonsense personality but deep sense of humanity made him an instant fan favourite on the show, especially when paired with Andy Samberg’s hotshot Det. Jake Peralta in one scene.
He won a lead actor Emmy for his role as Detective Frank Pembleton on NBC’s Homicide: Life on the Street” in 1998, his final year on the show. Braugher’s intense performance made him one of the breakout stars of the critically acclaimed police drama created by Barry Levinson, Tom Fontana and David Simon, the former Baltimore Sun reporter who wrote the 1991 non-fiction book “Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets”. Braugher also won another Emmy for Outstanding Miniseries or Movie for his performance as a master criminal on FX’s “Thief” in 2006.
In a 2020 Variety cover story, Braugher confronted the complicated legacy of playing cops throughout his career. “Cops breaking the law to, quote, ‘defend the law’ is a really terrible slippery slope. It’s given licence to law-breaking everywhere, justifying it, excusing it,” he said. “That’s something we’re going to have to address together – all the cop shows.”
Born in Chicago, Braugher graduated from Stanford University and then attended the Juilliard School of Drama.
His first screen role was as a Union soldier in Glory, playing Thomas Searles, a free black man who joins the first black regiment. He played Kojak’s sidekick in the TV movie revival of “Kojak” and then moved on to “Homicide: Life on the Street.
He also played a detective on Hack from 2002 to 2004, then switched to a psychiatrist role on House, M.D. Braugher was nominated for two Primetime Emmys for Supporting Actor for Men of a Certain Age.
He continued to appear in feature films as his television career expanded, with roles in City of Angels, Frequency, Poseidon, Primal Fear, Duets, The Mist, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Salt and The Gambler.
He told Variety that his family was more important to him than chasing a big leading role. “It’s been an interesting career, but I think it could have been bigger,” he says. “I think it could have spanned more disciplines: directing, producing, all these other different things. But it would have been at the expense of my own life.
He is survived by his wife, Ami Brabson, who also starred in Homicide: Life on the Street, and three children.
