The Chicago-born Braugher died Monday after a brief illness, his publicist Jennifer Allen told The Associated Press. No further details were given.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Andre Braugher, the Emmy-winning actor who would master gritty drama for seven seasons on “Homicide: Life on The Street” and modern comedy for eight on “Brooklyn 99,” died Monday at 61.
Braugher died after a brief illness, his publicist Jennifer Allen told The Associated Press. No further details were given.
The Chicago-born actor would establish himself in the role of Det. Frank Pembleton, the lead role on “Homicide: Life on the Street,” a dark police drama based on a book by
Born and raised in Chicago, Braugher graduated from Stanford and got a master of fine arts degree from Juilliard.
He had his breakthrough role in 1989’s “Glory,” starring alongside Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington, who won an Oscar for the film about an all-Black Army regiment during the the Civil War.
Braugher played the bookish, frightened union corporal Thomas Searles in the film.
“I conceived that character as heroic, but I got a lot of scripts after that where I’m constantly crying,” he told the AP in 1993.
Despite the part, he told the AP in 2019 that before “Homicide” he struggled to find work in a Hollywood where roles for African American actors were “few and far between, Period.”
Braugher won his second Emmy for lead actor in a miniseries or movie for the 2006 limited series “Thief” on FX. Braugher would be nominated for 11 Emmys overall.
His other film credits included “Primal Fear” and “Get on the Bus,” and his other TV credits included “Hack,” “Gideon’s Crossing” and “The Good Fight.”
He also acted frequently on the stage, often doing Shakespeare. He won an Obie Award for playing the title role in “Henry V” at the New York Shakespeare Festival, where he also appeared in “Measure for Measure,” “Twelfth Night” and “As You Like It.”
Braugher was married for more than 30 years to his “Homicide” co-star Ami Brabson. He is also survived by sons Michael, Isaiah and John Wesley, his brother Charles Jennings and his mother Sally Braugher.
