Andre Braugher - TV Tropes

"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 gained a new generation of fans with Brooklyn Nine-Nine, in which he played The Comically Serious Capt. Raymond Holt. His performance earned him nominations for four Critic's Choice Television Awards (winning two), and four Primetime Emmys.

Braugher died on December 11, 2023 at 61 years old following a brief battle with lung cancer.

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Andre Braugher filmography on TV Tropes:

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Film roles 

Television roles 

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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 Master 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 his 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.

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