Andre Braugher, Homicide: Life on the Street and Brooklyn Nine-Nine Star, Dead at 61
Andre Braugher has died at the age of 61.
The actor, known for his roles on acclaimed crime series such as Homicide: Life on the Street and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, died on Monday after a recent illness, his representative confirmed to PEOPLE.
Two of Braugher’s Emmy nominations came from his role as diabetic dad Owen Thoreau Jr. on the TNT series Men of a Certain Age costarring Ray Romano and Scott Bakula. Throughout his career, he’d received a total of 11 nominations.
He won his first Emmy in 1998 for outstanding lead actor in a drama series as Homicide: Life On The Street’s Frank Pembleton. He won again in 2006 for Thief.
At the height of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, the two-time Emmy-winning actor reflected on his role as beloved Capt. Raymond Holt in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and how he viewed real-world police relations.
“I look up after all these decades of playing these characters, and I say to myself, it’s been so pervasive that I’ve been inside this storytelling, and I, too, have fallen prey to the mythology that’s been built up,” Braugher, who also played Det. Frank Pembleton on NBC’s Homicide: Life on the Street, told Variety at the time.
“It’s almost like the air you breathe or the water that you swim in. It’s hard to see. But because there are so many cop shows on television, that’s where the public gets its information about the state of policing,” he continued. “Cops breaking the law to quote, ‘defend the law,’ is a real terrible slippery slope. It has given license to the breaking of law everywhere, justified it and excused it. That’s something that we’re going to have to collectively address — all cop shows.”
“I learned to keep asking questions until you find what is the key center of the scene. And that’s been amazing for me. And then to watch his work back? He’s incredible. His sense of humor, his professionalism, all of those things. I look at him as somebody who I hope, as I continue to grow in this business, to have half the career of a man like this. It’s been a blessing.”
“Thank you for your wisdom, your advice, your kindness and your friendship. Deepest condolences to your wife and family in this difficult time. You showed me what a life well lived looks like. Rest In Peace, Andre. I love you, man. 😢❤️.”
Braugher, a Chicago native and Stanford University and Juilliard graduate, is survived by his wife Ami Brabson, and their children John Wesley Braugher, Michael Braugher, and Isaiah Braugher.
