Avery Brooks

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Avery Brooks
Brooks at the 2012 Destination Star Trek in London
Born
Avery Franklin Brooks

(1948-10-02) October 2, 1948 (age 75)
Evansville, Indiana, U.S.
EducationIndiana University, Bloomington
Oberlin College
Rutgers University, New Brunswick (BA, MFA)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • director
  • singer
  • educator
Years active1984–2006
Spouse
Vicki Bowen
​
(m. 1976)​
Children3

Avery Franklin Brooks (born October 2, 1948) is a retired American actor, director, singer, narrator and educator. He is best known for his television roles as Captain Benjamin Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, as Hawk on Spenser: For Hire and its spinoff A Man Called Hawk, and as Dr. Bob Sweeney in the Academy Award–nominated film American History X. Brooks has delivered a variety of other performances to a great deal of acclaim. He has been nominated for a Saturn Award and three NAACP Image Awards. Brooks has also been inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre and bestowed with the William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre by the Shakespeare Theatre Company.[1][2][3][4]

Early life[edit]

Avery Brooks was born in Evansville, Indiana, the son of Eva Lydia (née Crawford), a choral conductor and music instructor, and Samuel Brooks, a union official and tool and die worker.[citation needed] His maternal grandfather, Samuel Travis Crawford, was also a singer who graduated from Tougaloo College in 1901.[5] When Avery was eight years old his family moved to Gary, Indiana, after his father had been laid off from International Harvester. Brooks has said: "I was born in Evansville...but it was Gary, Indiana, that made me."[6]

The Brooks household was filled with music. His mother, who was among the first African-American women to earn a master's degree in music at Northwestern University[who?], taught music wherever the family lived. His father was a member of the Wings Over Jordan Choir,[7] an a cappella spiritual choir best known for performing on CBS radio from 1937 to 1947.[8][9] His maternal uncle Samuel Travis Crawford was a member of the Delta Rhythm Boys. "Music is all around me and in me, as I am in it," Brooks has said.[10]

Brooks attended Indiana University and Oberlin College.[5][11] He later completed his Bachelor of Arts plus a Master of Fine Arts from Rutgers University in 1976, becoming the first African American to receive an MFA in acting and directing from Rutgers.[12]

Television career[edit]

Spenser: For Hire: Hawk[edit]

In 1985, Brooks was cast in the role of Hawk on the ABC television detective series Spenser: For Hire, based on the mystery series published by Robert Parker. Hawk became a popular character, and after three seasons, Brooks in 1989 received his own, short-lived spinoff series, A Man Called Hawk. In landing the title role, Brooks became the fifth Black-American male actor in a starring role in a first-run television drama following Bill Cosby, who co-starred with Robert Culp in the NBC spy series I Spy from 1965 to 1968, Clarence Williams III, who starred as undercover police detective Linc Hayes in the iconic ABC "hippie" cop drama The Mod Squad from 1968 to 1973, James McEachin, who played Harry Tenafly in "Tenafly" from 1973 to 1974, and Philip Michael Thomas, who starred opposite Don Johnson in Miami Vice.

Brooks said of his role as Hawk: "I never thought of myself as the sidekick... I've never been the side of anything. I just assumed that I was equal."[10]

Brooks returned to play Hawk in four Spenser television movies: Spenser: Ceremony, Spenser: Pale Kings and Princes, Spenser: The Judas Goat and Spenser: A Savage Place.

Star Trek: Benjamin Sisko[edit]

Brooks is best known for his role as Benjamin Sisko on the syndicated science-fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine which ran for seven seasons from 1993 to 1999.

Brooks won the role of Commander Benjamin Sisko by beating 100 other actors from all racial backgrounds to become the first Black-American captain to lead a Star Trek series. Brooks also directed nine episodes of the series, including "Far Beyond the Stars", an episode focusing on racial injustice.

Series producer Ronald D. Moore said of Brooks:

Avery, like his character (Sisko), is a very complex man. He is not a demanding or ego-driven actor, rather he is a thoughtful and intelligent man who sometimes has insights into the character that no one else has thought about. He has also been unfailingly polite and a classy guy in all my dealings with him.[13]

Brooks was nominated for a Saturn Award and two NAACP Image Awards for the role.[2]

Other roles[edit]

In 1984, Brooks received critical praise for his featured role in PBS's American Playhouse production of Half Slave, Half Free: Solomon Northup's Odyssey, directed by Gordon Parks. The story chronicled the life of Solomon Northup, a free man from New York kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841 and held until 1853, when he regained his freedom with the help of family and friends. It was adapted from Northup's memoir, Twelve Years a Slave (1853).[14]

Brooks appeared in the 1985 television movie adaptation of Finnegan Begin Again. In 1987, he starred in the role of Uncle Tom in Showtime's filmed adaptation of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Brooks was nominated for an Ace Award in the category of best Actor in a movie or miniseries for that said role.[15] A third project that allowed Brooks to highlight the history of African Americans was his performance in the 1988 television movie Roots: The Gift, which featured his fellow Star Trek actors LeVar Burton, Kate Mulgrew, and Tim Russ.

In 1998, he appeared in the motion picture American History X, which also stars another Star Trek actor, Jennifer Lien. He also played the role of Paris in the 1998 film The Big Hit.

During 1998 he also supplied the voice of King Maximus in an episode of the animated TV series, Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child entitled "The Golden Goose". Brooks was eventually nominated for an NAACP Image Award within the category of Outstanding Performance in a Youth or Children's Series/Special for the role.[16] He also voiced the character of Nokkar in an episode of the Disney animated series Gargoyles.

In 2001, Brooks narrated and appeared in a series of commercials for IBM.[17]

Other work[edit]

Teaching and cultural work[edit]

Brooks has taught at Oberlin College and Case Western Reserve University.[citation needed] A graduate of Livingston College and Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, he accepted an appointment in 1976 as an associate professor of theater arts at Mason Gross.[5][12]

From 1993 to 1996, Brooks was artistic director for the National Black Arts Festival in association with Rutgers University. Held annually[18] since 1988 in Atlanta, Georgia, the internationally renowned festival celebrates African-American culture and people of African descent. In addition, Brooks has also done extensive work with the Smithsonian Institution's Program in Black American Culture.[19]

Music[edit]

A deep baritone singer, Brooks has performed on stage with Butch Morris, Lester Bowie, and Jon Hendricks. He also recorded an album with saxophone player James Spaulding, James Spaulding Plays the Legacy of Duke Ellington (Storyville, 1977). Brooks had the lead role in the 1985 Anthony Davis opera X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X. Also, he performed at the Paris Banlieues Bleues Festival in 2005. In his role as Benjamin Sisko, he performed the Frank Sinatra tune "The Best Is Yet to Come" at the conclusion of the Deep Space Nine episode "Badda-Bing Badda-Bang" as a duet with James Darren.

In a brief venture into scoring, Brooks composed the musical score for the final two episodes of A Man Called Hawk, which he starred in.

In 2009, Brooks released his debut album, Here, an album of jazz and blues covers, as well as spoken word.[3] During 2016 Brooks performed in concert with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra at the Springfield Symphony Hall.[20] In 2020, Brooks was featured on The DX Experiment's debut album, Black In My Own Way, an album of experimental music with spoken word.[21]

Theater[edit]

Brooks received critical acclaim in Phillip Hayes Dean's play Paul Robeson. Brooks portrayed the life of the famous singer, actor, and civil-rights activist in a one-man, critically acclaimed biographical drama. He has performed the role since 1982 at the Westwood Playhouse in Los Angeles, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and the Longacre Theater on Broadway. He also portrayed Robeson in Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been?, both on- and off-Broadway.

Brooks' early theater credits include The Offering, A PHOTOGRAPH: A Study of Cruelty, and Are You Now or Have You Ever Been? in the 1970s. He started to gain recognition after his appearance in Spell #7 at the Public/Anspache Theater in New York City in 1979. He subsequently starred in Othello at the Folger Shakespeare Festival (1985) and Fences at the Repertory Theater of St. Louis, Missouri, in 1990. He reprised the role of Othello at the Washington Shakespeare Theater in 1990–1991.

During 1994, he was inducted in the College of Fellows of the American Theatre.[4] Brooks later appeared in the title role of The Oedipus Plays, a production that traveled to the 2003 Athens Festival in Greece. He also appeared in the title role of King Lear at Yale's Repertory Theatre. In 2005, Brooks again starred as Othello, this time at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in a production directed by renowned Michael Kahn. Brooks was one of 15 actors of the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., to be honored with the William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre in 2007.[1] He returned to the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Fall 2007 to play the title role in Christopher Marlowe's Tamburlaine. His performance was interrupted when an injury made it necessary for him to take time off to heal.[22][23]

In September 2008, Brooks played Willy Loman in a production of Death of a Salesman at Oberlin College.[24][25]

During 2010, Brooks performed in Baltimore Center Stage's production of Kwame Kwei-Armah's play Let There Be Love.[26] Once again, Brooks played the title role of Paul Robeson at the Shakespeare Theater from March 24–27 in 2011.

Films[edit]

Brooks played Dr. Bob Sweeney in American History X alongside Edward Norton. He also played mob boss Paris in The Big Hit, co-starring Mark Wahlberg. His last feature-film role was in 2001 as Detective Leon Jackson in 15 Minutes, which also starred Robert De Niro and Edward Burns.

Documentary work[edit]

Brooks has also hosted several documentaries and served as narrator in such features as the IMAX film Africa's Elephant Kingdom. His other documentary credits include narrating Earthquake!, A Passion for Faith, covering the history of black Catholics in America, Eyes on the Prize, Walking with Dinosaurs, Jesus: The Complete Story, Land of the Mammoth: Ancient Evidence, The Ballad of Big Al, The Science of Big Al, Savage Sun, Engineering the Impossible (The Colosseum), Greatest Places and Echoes from the White House, and God vs. Satan. He also narrated the three-part series Heart of Africa, consisting of Heart of Africa: Jewel of the Rift, about the lifecycles of African cichlid fish in Lake Tanganyika, Heart of Africa: Virunga, about the gorillas of Virunga National Park, and Heart of Africa: Fire and Ice, about the lowland animals of the Rift Valley.

In May 2007, Brooks recorded the narration for the documentary The Better Hour, which is about the life of William Wilberforce, the man who led the campaign for the end of slavery in the United Kingdom in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.[27]

Brooks also provided the narration for the BBC series Walking with Dinosaurs when it aired in North America on the Discovery Channel. His deep and authoritative voice commanded viewer attention; Brooks was able to draw on his years of training as an opera singer and his extensive stage experience with Shakespeare company actors not only to engage the viewer, but also to use his vocal abilities to emphasize the events as seen in the show.[28]

In 2009, Brooks narrated a special documentary for the National Geographic channel, titled Drain the Ocean. Using CGI animation, National Geographic simulates removing the water from the oceans to explore the ocean floor and its vast geography.

In 2011, Brooks was interviewed by William Shatner in the feature-length documentary The Captains. The film was written and directed by Shatner and features the original Star Trek captain interviewing every other actor who had portrayed a prominently recurring captain, upon whom the science-fiction franchise had yet been based. Brooks also served as music supervisor for the project.[29]

In 2013, Brooks began to narrate the Christian or Abrahamic series The Bible's Greatest Secrets, on the American Heroes Channel, which attempted to use interpretations of events found in the Bible to illuminate new archeological findings and interpretations of history, and to use interpretations of new archeological findings to illuminate interpretations of events found in the Bible.[30] IMDb lists the "Storyline" as: "Unlock the mysteries of vanished civilizations of the Holy Land and the people who built them."[31]

Later projects[edit]

Avery Brooks, 2009

Brooks was part of a directors panel at a festival celebrating the work of Ntozake Shange at the New Federal Theatre on February 11, 2007. Brooks has directed Shange's Boogie Woogie Landscapes at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and in London's West End.[32]

As part of BBC Audiobooks America's entry into the US market, Brooks narrated an audiobook of Alex Haley's novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family. This was the first time the novel was adapted into an audiobook. Brooks had previously starred in a 1988 television film based upon the book, Roots: The Gift. As an audio book, Roots: The Saga of an American Family won an Audie Award in 2008 within the category of Non-Fiction.[33][34]

In 2007, Brooks released an album containing in his words "a selection of ballads and love songs... I speak of my respect for my father, and for artists that I have listened to all my life."[35]

Personal life[edit]

Since 1976, Brooks has been married to Vicki Lenora Brooks, an assistant dean at Rutgers University.[36][37] Together, they have three adult children – Ayana, Cabral, and Asante[38] – and live in Princeton, New Jersey.

After police received a report of erratic driving, at around 10 PM on January 29, 2012, Brooks was arrested under charges of driving under the influence in Wilton, Connecticut (with a court date of February 9 that year).[39][40][41][42]

He shares the same birthday as fellow Star Trek alumna Persis Khambatta. One of his favourite albums is Al Jarreau's Live in Berlin. Brooks is also close to Cirroc Lofton, his "TV son" as on DS9.[43][44] He is also a fan of baseball and names Dick Allen as his favourite player.[45][44]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1985 Finnegan Begin Again Passenger on bus Television film
1987 Uncle Tom's Cabin Uncle Tom Television film
Nominated—CableACE Award for Actor in a Movie or Miniseries
Moments Without Proper Names —
1988 Roots: The Gift Cletus Moyer Television film
1993 The Ernest Green Story Rev. Lawson
Spenser: Ceremony Hawk
1994 Spenser: Pale Kings and Princes
Spenser: The Judas Goat
1995 Spenser: A Savage Place
1998 The Big Hit Paris
American History X Dr. Bob Sweeney
2001 God Lives Underwater: Fame Detective Leon Jackson Short film
2001 15 Minutes
2011 The Captains Himself Documentary

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1984 American Playhouse Solomon Northup Episode: "Solomon Northup's Odyssey"
1985–1988 Spenser: For Hire Hawk 65 episodes
1989 A Man Called Hawk 13 episodes
1993–1999 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Commander/Captain Benjamin Sisko 173 episodes
Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series (1997–98)
Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television
1996 Gargoyles Nokkar Voice, episode: "Sentinel"
1997 Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child King Maximus Voice, episode: "The Golden Goose"

Video games[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1996 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Harbinger Capt. Benjamin Sisko
2006 Star Trek: Legacy

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Jones, Kenneth (February 22, 2007). "DC's Shakespeare Theatre to Present Will Awards March 4". playbill.com. Playbill. Archived from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Avery Brooks – Awards". IMDb. Archived from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  3. ^ a b "5 Things to Know About Avery Brooks". startrek.com. Star Trek. October 2, 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Death of a Salesman: Cast & Crew". oberlin.edu. Oberlin University. Archived from the original on April 17, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c "Avery Brooks". IMDb. Archived from the original on August 12, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  6. ^ Davich, Jerry (2015). Lost Gary, Indiana. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. p. 53. ISBN 9781625851376.
  7. ^ "Community Players Cast For 'Little Foxes' Announced". Evansville Courier and Press. Evansville, Indiana. April 3, 1950. p. 20. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Obituary for Samuel L. Brooks (Aged 63)". Evansville Press. Evansville, Indiana. July 10, 1983. p. 7-B. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Light, Betsy (July 20, 1986). "TV's 'Hawk' serious artist". The Indianapolis Star. Indianapolis, Indiana. pp. 1E, 5E. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b Southgate, Martha (1989). "Avery Brooks: not just another pretty face". Essence. Vol. 19, no. 12. pp. 74–76, 114. ISSN 0014-0880 – via General OneFile.
  11. ^ Kipnis, Nora (February 28, 2014). "Brooks, OC '70, Returns to Oberlin". The Oberlin Review. Archived from the original on May 27, 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  12. ^ a b "Avery F. Brooks". Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni. Rutgers University Alumni Association. Archived from the original on July 6, 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  13. ^ "Ron_Moore_3_19_97". Archived from the original on February 4, 2010. Retrieved August 3, 2010.
  14. ^ "Solomon Northup's Odyssey". December 10, 1984. Archived from the original on April 16, 2018. Retrieved June 30, 2018 – via IMDb.
  15. ^ "Awards to cover regular programs, specials". cdnc.ucr.edu. The Desert Sun. January 21, 1988.
  16. ^ "Image Awards (NAACP); 1998 Awards". IMDb. Archived from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  17. ^ "The 50 Best Celebrity Tech Endorsements". complex.com. Complex Networks. May 6, 2011. Archived from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  18. ^ "About Us – National Black Arts Festival". nbaf.org. Archived from the original on July 6, 2017. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  19. ^ "National Museum of African American History and Culture Premieres Film on History of Blacks in the Military Jan. 26". si.edu. Smithsonian. January 12, 2010. Archived from the original on July 11, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  20. ^ Auerbach, Mark (February 28, 2016). "Review: The Springfield Symphony Orchestra Showcases Gershwin and Ellington". thewestfieldnews.com. The Westfield News. Archived from the original on May 7, 2016. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  21. ^ "HarpSpace Happening". harpspacehappening.com. Archived from the original on October 3, 2022. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  22. ^ "Actor Avery Brooks Stars in 'Tamburlaine'". npr.org. NPR. December 5, 2007. Archived from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  23. ^ "Avery Brooks to Return to D.C. Tamburlaine on December 29 | TheaterMania". www.theatermania.com. December 18, 2007. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  24. ^ Gans, Andrew (September 18, 2008). "Avery Brooks Is Willy Loman in New Interpretation of Death of a Salesman, Starting Sept. 18". Playbill. Archived from the original on March 1, 2021. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  25. ^ "Cast & Crew". Death of a Salesman. Oberlin College. Archived from the original on October 17, 2010. Retrieved February 3, 2011.
  26. ^ Gans, Andrew (February 10, 2010). "Centerstage's Let There Be Love, with Avery Brooks, Begins Feb. 10". playbill.com. Playbill. Archived from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  27. ^ "Directing Avery Brooks in New York | Phil Cooke The Change Revolution". Philcooke.com. May 2, 2007. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved August 3, 2010.
  28. ^ Maynard, John (April 15, 2000). "'Dinosaurs': A Program With Bite". Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 28, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  29. ^ "Watch Avery Brooks tell William Shatner why he had to be the Captain on Deep Space 9". io9.com. July 18, 2011. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
  30. ^ ""The Bible's Greatest Secrets", American Heroes Channel". Archived from the original on February 28, 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  31. ^ The Bible's Greatest Secrets: Mysteries of the Bible (1994–1998) at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata.
  32. ^ "New Federal's Shange Festival Kicks Off Feb. 7". Playbill.com. Archived from the original on May 12, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2010.
  33. ^ "2008 Audie Awards®". audiopub.org. Audio Publishers Association. Archived from the original on August 26, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  34. ^ "BBC Audiobooks America Launches Trade List". April 11, 2007. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved August 3, 2010.
  35. ^ Christian Höhne Sparborth. "The Trek BBS: Brooks On Star Trek, Rutgers, 'Roots' & Robeson". Archived from the original on October 18, 2007. Retrieved August 3, 2010.
  36. ^ "Dean Vicki Brooks Assistant Dean for Administration". Rutgers University. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  37. ^ Gabrielli, Betty. "Avery Brooks the man behind the mask". oberlin.edu. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  38. ^ Boasbergl, Leonard W. "AVERY BROOKS IS JUST AS COOL AND IMPOSING IN PERSON". Deseret News. No. September 30, 1989. Archived from the original on August 6, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  39. ^ "Star Trek Captain Avery Brooks Arrested for DUI". E! Online. January 31, 2012. Archived from the original on July 1, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  40. ^ "'Star Trek' Star Popped for DUI". TMZ News. January 31, 2012. Archived from the original on November 10, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  41. ^ "'Star Trek' actor Avery Brooks charged with DUI in Conn". Fox News. March 26, 2015. Archived from the original on September 21, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  42. ^ "'Star Trek' actor Brooks charged with DUI in Conn". Gwinnett Daily Post. Associated Press. February 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  43. ^ "Avery Brooks - Trivia". IMDb. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  44. ^ a b Habich, Erich (1999). "Avery Brooks (Captain Sisko)". startrek.ehabich.info. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  45. ^ Show, The Ringer MLB (September 14, 2017). "The 'Star Trek' Baseball Episode Is a Timeless Look at a Timeless Sport". The Ringer. Retrieved December 15, 2023.

External links[edit]

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