André Braugher played cops on TV, but he wasn't a "TV cop."

No, the classically trained and award-winning actor, who died Monday at 61 after a short illness, transcended the genre that made him famous. Braugher's characters used no clichéd aviator sunglasses, catchphrases and found no easy answers to hard questions. His hard stares and harder monologues made audiences question our assumptions about the police, the incarcerated and the accused. He suffered no fools, even when he was making us laugh in a comedy. Braugher didn't just make cop shows − he made cop shows better.

It's hard to describe the enormity of the loss of Braugher at just 61. He appeared on our TV screens for nearly three decades with such life. He had verve, he had magnetism, and he had a voice that you could feel reverberate in your bones. Some actors are dull to watch, but Braugher perhaps had the opposite problem: He was shockingly bright.

Braugher is best remembered as Detective Frank Pembleton in NBC's groundbreaking 1993-99 police drama "Homicide: Life on the Street," and more recently as Captain Raymond Holt in Fox and NBC's much lighter police comedy "Brooklyn Nine-Nine." "Homicide" was a gritty, naturalistic and often upsetting crime drama that stood in stark contrast with the clean-cut, black-and-white cop shows of the 1950s-1980s. When he took on the role of Pembleton, a slick, smart and silver-tongued veteran detective, Braugher was a barely known performer with roles in a couple of "Kojak" movies and a scene-stealing turn in 1989's "Glory " alongside Denzel Washington. But it took such little time for the smooth-talking actor to turn from unknown to household name to the most illustrious actor on TV. 

Obituary:André Braugher, Emmy-winning 'Homicide' and 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' actor, dies at 61

His buttery voice and penetrating eyes helped earn him Emmys for "Homicide" and the 2006 FX miniseries "Thief," and a bevy of nominations between and since. After two decades of the most prestigious, serious and thought-provoking drama work you could imagine, Braugher showed range most actors only dream of when he began making audiences guffaw in comedies like "Brooklyn" and TNT's "Men of a Certain Age." His casting on "Brooklyn" was a veritable coup for the series, drawing so much of its humor simply from Braugher's presence and reputation as tough-talking Pembleton. But the series also gave him ample opportunity to let loose and show off a wacky, physical side. He never lost a knack for surprising audiences with brand-new talents. 

There were more roles than just the cops, district attorneys and judges. Braugher's varied and storied career proved he could do pretty much anything, from animated voices to Stephen King movies to the editor-in-chief of The New York Times. Most recently, Braugher took a lead role in the final season of Paramount +'s acclaimed "The Good Fight," playing a flamboyant and shrewd lawyer so unlike the straight-laced network "Law & Order"-types he tried before.  

Braugher had so much more to give. You couldn't predict what he'd do next, only that he'd be brilliant when he did it. He leaves behind his wife, Ami Brabson (whom he met on "Homicide"), and three children, as well as a legion of fans who will cherish him forever. 

And the entire medium of television, which will be that much the worse for losing him.

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