The news of the actor’s death Andrew Braugherat only 61 years old, will come as a shock to those who believe that police dramas are serious and should be based on books by David Simonas it was ‘Homicide’. But also to those who consider that police officers can and even should be the object of affectionate ridicule, as happened in ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’.
In both, Braugher had leading roles. In the first he was Frank Pembleton, a Baltimore homicide detective who often talks about his Jesuit education (the actor himself had it) and his marital problems. Where Braugher shone most was in the interrogations; hence there were entire episodes based on themwith criminals played by actors like Steve Buscemi and Paul Giamatti.
With its nervous camera and realistic tone, ‘Homicide’ advanced the almost documentary successes of ‘New York Police’ either ‘The wire’. Critics were enthusiastic about it, which helped ensure that, despite disappointing audiences for NBC, it lasted seven seasons on the air. Braugher left after finishing the sixth, but returned for a closing telefilm. In 1998 he won an Emmy for his performance in the series.
At the other end
Ten years ago, we saw him repeat as a police officer and on NBC in ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’, radically funny police station comedy, one of the best anxiolytics available on Netflix. Now he was Ray Holt, falsely inert boss of falsely bully Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg), the hysterical and historic ‘foodie’ Charles (Joe Lo Truglio) or the delighted to meet Gina Linetti (Chelsea Peretti).
Holt was a gay man in a stable relationship, but throughout the series no jokes were made related to his sexual orientation. Yes, thousands were made about the character’s marked snobbery, his allergy to everything popular, which made him a brilliant heir to Frasier Crane. Sometimes he wanted to fool us, like when he told us (in ‘Greg and Larry’, episode 23 of season 3) that he didn’t know ‘Funky Cold Medina’, but he ended up covering it in a hilarious way.
More versatile than you remember
Many obituaries will remember and highlight these two roles, as we just did, but in truth, Braugher did much more than just being a cop. His role as the titular criminal in the miniseries ‘Thief’ earned him his second Emmy in 2006.. In the warm comedy-drama ‘Men of a certain age’ He was, for once, a guy without much power, just a man of a certain age who works for his father as a car salesman to make ends meet.
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Although best known for his work on television, he also made films, good films, such as ‘Get on the bus’, by Spike Lee; ‘The Fog’, by Frank Darabont, or, more recently, ‘Uncovered’, by Maria Schraderin the role of Dean Baquet, executive editor of the ‘New York Times’ during the days of the Weinstein abuse investigation.
Now, Braugher was preparing to resume, after the strikes stopped, his role as chief usher of the White House in ‘The Residence’, mystery series produced by Shonda Rhimes for Netflix. At this time it is unknown if his character will be eliminated from the equation or played by another actor, something that seems daring. Braugher is irreplaceable.