A picture of Andre Braugher playing Iago in Shakespeare's Othello in 1990 has gone viral in the wake of the actor's death earlier this week. The image was originally posted in 2016 by the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington DC. However, it has since been recirculated after Braugher passed away after a private battle with lung cancer. The image is a chaotic one, showing a squatting Braugher beside a manically smiling Avery Brooks. Brooks was already an established TV actor at the time. However, he is perhaps best known as Commander Benjamin Sisko in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
"There have been great Othellos and there have been great Iagos, but usually not in the same production. Christopher Plummer's restless Iago easily outmaneuvered James Earl Jones's heavy-spirited Moor. In Olivier's production, his Othello's richness overwhelmed the pinched, inhibited Iago of Frank Finley. But Brooks and Braugher are evenly matched, and their scenes together are the kind of theater you dream about without ever believing you'll see it," Washington Post theater critic Lloyd Rose wrote of the performance at the time.
Avery Braugher Dies At 61
As mentioned, two-time Emmy Award-winner Andre Braugher died at the age of 61 earlier this week. Braugher was best known for his work in police procedurals. He began his small-screen career as Detective Winston Blake in a series of Kojak specials between 1989 and 1990. However, his breakout role would be in Homicide: Life On The Streets, where he appeared in nearly 100 episodes. Despite this, contemporary audiences will likely know Braugher as Captain Raymond Holt in the police comedy, Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The stoic Captain Holt allowed Braugher to flex is comedic muscles, even if his character wasn't expected to be the "funny man".
According to Braugher's publicist, the actor died after a "brief illness". However, this was later revealed to be a During his career, Braugher won two Primetime Emmys - one for Homicide: Life On The Streets in 1998 and one for Thief in 2006. His recurring work in police shows came despite Braugher himself fearing that he would end up typecast. “If I do it too long then I’ll stop really searching and probing inside my own work. That’s just a great danger. I think I’m going to escape that trap, and get an opportunity to do some work that will be more challenging for me," he told the AP in 1998.
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