Andre Braugher's Breakout Homicide: Life On The Street Role Was Based On A Real Cop

Before becoming the captain of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Andre Braugher delivered an Emmy-winning performance as Detective Frank Pembleton in the hit NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street. Inspired by David Simon's non-fiction work Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, the show's seven-season run featured many characters directly from the book.

Braugher's Pembleton was based on real-life Baltimore detective Harry Edgerton. During the pilot's shooting, Braugher spent six hours with Edgerton, learning interrogation techniques and other skills to use throughout the series. Pembleton's high number of solved cases earned him the title of having the most "black on the board" in the department.

Pembleton's personality, as described by Simon, was enigmatic and often ribbed about by his colleagues. Just like Edgerton, Pembleton was a loner with a New York attitude. While Pembleton was inspired by Edgerton, the show took the character in a different direction, with Pembleton struggling with his Catholic faith and having a retirement story that differed from Edgerton's.

The show's writers used the book as a starting point, creating characters with more depth and individuality than the actual detectives. Braugher's Detective Pembleton became a television icon, surpassing his real-life inspiration and redefining good police work on the small screen.