Andre Braugher, star of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “Homicide: Life on the Street,” dies at 61

Andre Braugher, the two-time Emmy winner who starred in such critically acclaimed series as “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “Homicide: Life on the Street,” died Monday after a short illness, according to Deadline. He was 61.

Braugher’s charisma and versatility made him a magnetic screen presence, notably in the role of the egotistical, driven Baltimore Det. Frank Pembleton in “Homicide.” That performance still ranks among the best in TV history and earned him his first drama lead actor Emmy in 1998. Following his work on that NBC procedural he assumed a gentler role in the short-lived, Peabody-winning TNT series “Men of a Certain Age” alongside Ray Romano.

His second Emmy win in 2006 was for “Thief,” a limited series in which he traded Pembleton’s cutting intensity for smolder as the leader of a heist crew grieving his wife’s death. But he also parlayed the gravitas he honed through years of Shakespearean stage performance in deadpan comedic delivery in 2013’s “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” an audience favorite casting him as unflappable, rarely smiling precinct Captain Raymond Holt.

The Chicago-born, Julliard-trained actor made his screen debut in 1989’s “Glory,” in which he co-starred with Denzel Washington and Matthew Broderick. His next role would have been in Shonda Rhimes’ “The Residence,” a Netflix production. Four episodes of its eight episodes had been shot before production suspended filming due to the Writers Guild of America strike. It was set to resume production in early January. 

He is survived by his wife Ami Brabson, with whom he co-starred in “Homicide: Life on the Street,” and three children.