The Emmy award winning actor, Andre Braugher, widely known for his role as Captain Raymond Holt on the television sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine died at the age of 61 on Monday.
The actor’s death was confirmed by his Publicist, Jennifer Allen, who told the Associated Press that Braugher passed away after a brief illness.
Life Background
Born in Chicago on July 1st, 1962 – Andre Braugher attended St. Ignatius College Prep for High School which subsequently allowed him to procure a scholarship to Stanford University. He graduated in 1984 with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and went on to attend Julliard’s prestigious drama school where he graduated in 1988.
Andre Braugher’s Work and Legacy
After finishing his education, Braugher bagged his breakthrough role through the film Glory released in 1989. Starring alongside Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington, he played the role of a union soldier joining an all African American regiment. Washington even went on to receive the Oscar for best supporting Actor for the same movie.
His next major performance was on the show ‘Homicide: Life on the Street’ where he played the role of the intellectually gifted Detective Frank Pembleton. He told the Associated Press in 2019 how despite the roles he got to portray, roles for African-American actors in Hollywood were very scarce at the time.
The critically acclaimed performance allowed Braugher to win his first Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1998. Tom Fontana, writer and producer of the show, praised his performance when speaking to BBC News this year saying he had never seen such a unique actor on television, one with such an electrifying presence. The show ran from 1993-98.
He won his second Emmy for Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie in 2006 for his work on the Thief, a limited series on FX.
Pivoting from the heavy and dark themed dramas, he would go on to play the role of the beloved character – Captain Raymond Holt – on the comedy television sitcom Brookly Nine-Nine starring Andy Samberg. The show ran for 8 seasons on Fox and NBC television networks from 2013-2021.
“I just felt as though it was an opportunity to do something strikingly different from the rest of my career. I like it because it just simply opens up my mind and forces me to think in a different way. So I think I’ve become much more supple as an actor, and more open to the incredible number of possibilities of how to play a scene,” Andre said in an interview with AP.
He would go on to be nominated for 11 Emmy awards with various critically acclaimed performances under his belt.
Andre Braugher is survived by his next of kin – Wife Ami Brabson, who also starred in ‘Homicide: Life on the Street’, their three kids, Michael, Isaiah and John Wesley,along with his brother Charles and mother Sally.
