Why Andre Braugher Mostly Left Hollywood Behind In His Final Years

Andre Braugher passed away on December 11 at the age of 61 — and before his death, he was stepping away from major industry roles on both the stage and screen.

The late actor was featured in a Variety profile in 2020, and he spoke out about his role in "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" as Captain Raymond Holt — a queer Black police captain who broke barriers throughout his tenure, but also faced constant roadblocks — as well as the fact that he was hoping to take some time away from acting.

In February of that year, Braugher was committed to a Broadway play by Noah Haidle called "Birthday Candles," but the onset of COVID-19 just one month later led him to exit the project (which was, like everything else at the time, delayed). As the actor told it, he and his wife, Ami Brabson, an actress whom he met while working on his acclaimed show "Homicide: Life on the Street," decided unilaterally that he should leave the production. The novel coronavirus wasn't Braugher's only consideration, though.

"It was clear by that time that guys like me have bull's-eyes on our back," Braugher said at the time. "I'm 58, I'm overweight, I have high blood pressure, so it was just time to bow out. Which is unfortunate, but the wisdom of that became pretty apparent a couple of weeks later, when all of New York officially shut down."

Andre Braugher was, by all metrics, an incredibly accomplished actor, but aside from putting a premium on his health in his final years, he also made sure that his family took priority. Throughout his long career, he and Ami Brabson worked closely to ensure his jobs fulfilled him as a performer and also served his family. This clearly came down to the fact that the two understood one another well. "We're like-minded; we grew up in similar neighborhoods; we share the same values," he told Variety in that same interview. "She knows me like the back of her hand, and I'm grateful for that."

Braugher was very committed to his family, including Brabson and their sons Michael, Isaiah, and John Wesley. The actor also revealed that even though "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" was filmed in Los Angeles, he flew home to New York to spend time with his family every weekend. "I made a choice along the way that Ami and those boys were too important to not spend quantity time with," he said. "The focus on celebrity-ness — it's not real. So I just chose, in my own way, to sort of drop out."

In the Variety interview, Andre Braugher opened up about his career as a whole, which began in 1989 when he appeared alongside Denzel Washington in "Glory" and truly took off in 1993 with his leading role as Detective Frank Pembleton on "Homicide: Life on the Street." The actor got to perform in a wide variety of incredible projects, and closing out his television career with buzzy, sharp series like "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" and "The Good Fight" was hopefully an excellent experience for him. Braugher did say, though, that he could have done more. "It's been an interesting career, but I think it could have been larger," he admitted. "I think it could have spanned more disciplines: directing, producing, all these other different things. But it would have been at the expense of my own life."

"I haven't been in Australia. I haven't been in Prague. I haven't been shooting in San Paolo or whatever," he continued. "I've got three boys, and I want them to know me as someone other than the guy who takes them to the circus every once in a while. I wanted to be there through the course of their life because I know how important fathers are."

Beyond his acting prowess, Andre Braugher was a man who prioritized his family. In the wake of his passing, he leaves behind his wife, Ami Brabson, their three sons, his mother, Sally Braugher, and his brother, Charles Jennings.