André Braugher was a Black American actor born in Chicago in 1962. He graduated from Stanford and received an MFA from Juilliard. His stage beginnings were classical: he appeared with The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park in Much Ado About Nothing, Coriolanus and Twelfth Night, and won an Obie Award for playing the title role in Henry V there. His film work included Glory, the 1989 drama directed by Edward Zwick, in an ensemble with Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman and Matthew Broderick.
On Homicide: Life on the Street, he played detective Frank Pembleton, earning an Emmy in 1998 after a nomination two years earlier. The series gave substantial leading roles to other Black actors as well, including Yaphet Kotto and Clark Johnson, and Braugher’s interrogation-room scenes with his partners became the show’s signature. He received another Emmy in 2006 for playing Nick Atwater in Thief.
Braugher later played Captain Raymond Holt alongside Andy Samberg in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Holt, the precinct’s commanding officer, ran through eight seasons of deadpan ensemble comedy from 2013 to 2021 and brought Braugher two Golden Globe nominations. He also starred as labor leader A. Philip Randolph and served as an executive producer on 10,000 Black Men Named George, directed by Robert Townsend.
He received consecutive lead-actor Emmy nominations for Homicide in 1996 and 1998, taking home the award the second time. Braugher died on December 11, 2023, at 61.
