Andre Braugher passes away at 61 Posted December 13 2023

Andre Braugher passes away at 61

Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Andre Braugher has passed away at the age of 61.

The two-time Emmy award winning actor was best known for his comedic role as Captain Holt on Brooklyn Nine-Nine and as Detective Frank Pembleton in the ‘90s NBC drama Homicide: Life On the Street. He died on Monday following a brief illness.

Born in Chicago, Braugher obtained a B.A. in theatre from Stanford University before attending the Juilliard School's Drama Division. His first television role was in 1989, playing Detective Winston Blake in a series of Kojak TV movies. That same year, Braugher appeared in the film Glory as a Black soldier during the Civil War, starring alongside Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, and Matthew Broderick.

In 1993, the drama series Homicide: Life on the Streets premiered on NBC, chronicling the work of a Baltimore homicide department. Braugher starred as Frank Pembleton, a detective renowned for his skill in obtaining confessions from suspects in "the box". He earned the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1998 for his performance in the show, which lasted for seven seasons and produced a feature-length TV movie. While working on Homicide: Life on the Streets, Braugher also starred in the TV movie The Tuskegee Airmen with Laurence Fishburne, and in City of Angels with Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan.

Braugher played the leading role in the short-lived medical drama Gideon's Crossing in 2000, a part that earned him both Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. He later shared the screen with David Morse in the 2002 drama series Hack, which ran for two seasons. Braugher’s role in the 2009 comedy-drama series Men of a Certain Age, created by and starring Ray Romano, earned him two Emmy nominations. He also portrayed a psychiatrist in the popular medical drama House, M.D., treating the title character played by Hugh Laurie.

In 2013, Braugher’s history of playing serious police officers was taken in a new direction as he joined sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine as Captain Raymond Holt. However, this was not just another stern and serious role for him. Far from simply being a foil to his more eccentric colleagues, Captain Raymond Holt was a character endowed with his own unique humor, interests and sensibilities. Braugher won two Critics Choice Awards for his role and received four Emmy nominations.

After the conclusion of Brooklyn Nine-Nine's eight-season run in 2021, Braugher starred in She Said, a film about the journey of two female New York Times reporters who exposed the Harvey Weinstein scandal. Additionally, Braugher had a recurring role in the sixth season of The Good Fight, appearing opposite Christine Baranski.

Braugher is survived by his wife, actress Ami Brabson, who also played his wife on Homicide, and their three sons.

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