"The lesson I learned...was that I am not an actor. I am a man who acts. So consequently, everything that I need, everything important to me is about being a man."
Andre Keith Braugher (July 1, 1962 – December 11, 2023) was an American film and television actor. He had a background in Shakespearean theater and attended the Juilliard School's Drama Division, from which he graduated with a Master of Fine Arts degree.
His first movie role was as freed, educated black man Cpl. Thomas Searless in Glory. His Star-Making Role was as Ensemble Dark Horse Det. Frank Pembleton in Homicide: Life on the Street, for which he won multiple awards. Braugher had a resurgence in popularity when he appeared on House in the recurring role of House's therapist Dr. Darryl Nolan; in spite of the fact that the episode he debuted in marked a massive Genre Shift (having absolutely no medical jargon whatsoever) and fans were split on that, Braugher's performance was universally praised. He also starred in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, in which he played The Comically Serious Capt. Raymond Holt.
Braugher died on December 11, 2023 at 61 years old following a brief battle with lung cancer.
Andre Braugher filmography on TV Tropes:
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Film roles
- Glory (1989) as Cpl. Thomas Searles
- Striking Distance (1993) as District Attorney
- The Tuskegee Airmen (1995) as Benjamin O. Davis
- Primal Fear (1996) as Tommy Goodman
- Get on the Bus (1996) as Flip
- City of Angels (1998) as Cassiel
- Frequency (2000) as Satch DeLeon
- Duets (2000) as Reggie Kane
- Poseidon (2006) as Capt. Bradford
- Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) as Gen. Hadger
- Live (2007) as Don
- The Mist (2007) as Brent Norton
- Passengers (2008) as Perry
- Salt (2010) as Secretary of Defense
- Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010) as Darkseid (voice)
Television roles
- Homicide: Life on the Street (100 episodes, 1993–98) as Det. Frank Pembleton
- Law & Order (1 episode, 1996) as Det. Frank Pembleton
- The American Experience (4 episodes, 1993–2002) as Robert Carter/Narrator (voice)
- Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (1 episode, 2000) as Julian Andrews (voice)
- Jackie Chan Adventures (3 episodes, 2000–01) as Derge (voice)
- The Practice (1 episode, 2001) as Dr. Ben Gideon
- Hack (40 episodes, 2002–04) as Marcellus Washington
- 'Salem's Lot (2 episodes, 2004) as Matt Burke
- The Andromeda Strain (4 episodes, 2008) as Gen. George W. Mancheck
- Men of a Certain Age (22 episodes, 2009–11) as Owen Thoreau Jr.
- House (4 episodes, 2009–12) as Dr. Darryl Nolan
- Miami Medical (1 episode, 2010) as Dr. William Rayner
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (6 episodes, 2011–15) as Bayard Ellis
- Last Resort (13 episodes, 2012–13) as Capt. Marcus Chaplin
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine (153 episodes, 2013–21) as Capt. Raymond Holt
- New Girl (1 episode, 2016) as Capt. Raymond Holt
- Axe Cop (1 episode, 2015) as Lobster Man (voice)
- Bojack Horseman (4 episodes, 2017) as Woodchuck Coodchuck-Berkowitz (voice)
- The Good Fight (10 episodes, 2022) as Ri'Chard Lane
Tropes Associated with Braugher:
- Casting Gag: In Brooklyn Nine-Nine, he once again plays a hypercompetent cop in a crapsack precinct. But rather than the Cowboy Cop that he was in Homicide, he instead plays a Reasonable Authority Figure and Trickster Mentor to the competent Cowboy Cop. Flashbacks reveal Holt to have been not unlike Pembleton when he was a Detective.
- Classically-Trained Extra: In many of his roles. He's taken many minor roles throughout his career, despite having a Masters of Fine Arts from the prestigious Julliard School.
- The Comically Serious: Most of his previous roles, and certainly his most well-known ones, have been quite stoic, serious men, so this is played for laughs on Brooklyn Nine-Nine where his character is so stoic, serious and impassive that the other characters literally cannot tell what emotion he might be feeling at any given moment.
- Crossover: Appeared in Law & Order as Det. Pembleton, The Practice as Dr. Ben Gideon, and an episode of New Girl as Captain Holt.
- Genius Bruiser: Braugher is a physically imposing man, but he often plays well-educated, well-spoken characters (having a Shakespearean background really helps for that).
- Large Ham: He can be very theatrical when the situation calls for it as almost any episode of Homicide: Life on the Street and more than a few of Brooklyn Nine-Nine can attest.
- Leslie Nielsen Syndrome: He started out in drama, having trained at Julliard and started in theatre with his most famous role being on the gritty crime drama Homicide: Life on the Street. In the last decade of life, he became much more associated with comedy due to his role on Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
- Playing with Character Type: Captain Holt in Brooklyn Nine-Nine isn't incredibly different from many of his previous roles, being a rather serious, stoic authority figure. He is, however, Played for Laughs instead of drama, and is one of the major roles that demonstrated to a wider audience that, in addition to his undeniable dramatic abilities, he has some pretty hefty comic chops as well.
- Real-Life Relative: Pembleton's wife Mary was played by Braugher's own wife Ami.
- Star-Making Role: His role as Frank Pembleton in Homicide: Life on the Street established him as a well-regarded character actor, but Brooklyn Nine-Nine made him into an almost household name.
