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Andre Braugher

Andre Braugher brought unusual weight to the screen. His commanding voice and measured delivery made authority feel natural, but his best performances also revealed the tension, humor or vulnerability underneath it. Across drama, comedy, film and theatre, he had a gift for playing men whose composure was always doing some kind of work. Born in Chicago on July 1, 1962, Braugher was raised in the city’s Austin neighborhood. He initially studied engineering at Stanford University before discovering that acting held his attention, graduating with a degree in theatre in 1984. He later trained at the Juilliard School’s Drama Division, graduating in 1988. His first film role came in Glory in 1989, playing Thomas Searles, a free and educated Black man who joins the Union Army’s first Black regiment. Braugher later appeared in films including City of Angels, Frequency, Poseidon, The Mist, Salt and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. His work was never limited to live-action roles: he also voiced Darkseid in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse and California Governor Woodchuck Coodchuck-Berkowitz in BoJack Horseman. Television gave Braugher two defining showcases. As Detective Frank Pembleton on Homicide: Life on the Street, he played a fiery, unyielding investigator and won the 1998 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. In the FX miniseries Thief, his performance as Nick Atwater earned him a second Emmy. Then came Brooklyn Nine-Nine. From 2013 to 2021, Braugher played Captain Raymond Holt, turning restraint, exact diction and the smallest shift in expression into formidable comedy. The role earned him four Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and showed just how funny his seriousness could be. Braugher also maintained a substantial stage career, including the title role in a 1996 Shakespeare in the Park production of Henry V, for which he received an Obie Award. He died in 2023, leaving behind work distinguished by discipline, intelligence and a remarkable ability to hold the room.