Avery Brooks | |
|---|---|
 Brooks at the 2012 Destination Star Trek in London | |
| Born | Avery Franklin Brooks (1948-10-02)October 2, 1948 (age 76) Evansville, Indiana, U.S. |
| Education | Indiana University, Bloomington Oberlin College Rutgers University, New Brunswick (BA,MFA) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1984–2006 |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
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 CaptainBenjamin Sisko onStar Trek: Deep Space Nine, as Hawk onSpenser: For Hire and its spinoffA Man Called Hawk, and as Dr. Bob Sweeney in theAcademy Award–nominated filmAmerican History X. Brooks has delivered a variety of other performances to a great deal of acclaim. He has been nominated for aSaturn Award and threeNAACP Image Awards. Brooks has also been inducted into theCollege of Fellows of the American Theatre and bestowed with the William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre by theShakespeare Theatre Company.[1][2][3][4]
Avery Brooks was born inEvansville, Indiana, the son of Eva Lydia (née Crawford), a choral conductor and music instructor, and Samuel Brooks, a union official andtool and die worker.[citation needed] His maternal grandfather, Samuel Travis Crawford, was also a singer who graduated fromTougaloo College in 1901.[5] When Avery was eight years old his family moved toGary, Indiana, after his father had been laid off fromInternational 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 atNorthwestern University,[who?] taught music wherever the family lived. His father was a member of theWings Over Jordan Choir,[7] ana cappellaspiritual choir best known for performing onCBS radio from 1937 to 1947.[8][9] His maternal uncle Samuel Travis Crawford was a member of theDelta Rhythm Boys. "Music is all around me and in me, as I am in it," Brooks has said.[10]
Brooks attendedIndiana University andOberlin College.[5][11] He later completed his Bachelor of Arts plus a Master of Fine Arts fromRutgers University in 1976, becoming the first African American to receive an MFA in acting and directing from Rutgers.[12]
In 1985, Brooks was cast in the role of Hawk on the ABC television detective seriesSpenser: For Hire, based on the mystery series published byRobert Parker. Hawk became a popular character, and after three seasons, Brooks in 1989 received his own, short-lived spinoff series,A Man Called Hawk.
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 fourSpenser television movies:Spenser: Ceremony,Spenser: Pale Kings and Princes,Spenser: The Judas Goat andSpenser: A Savage Place.
Brooks is best known for his role as Benjamin Sisko on the syndicated science-fiction television seriesStar 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 aStar Trek series. Brooks also directed nine episodes of the series, including "Far Beyond the Stars", an episode focusing on racial injustice.
Series producerRonald 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 aSaturn Award and twoNAACP Image Awards for the role.[2]
In 1984, Brooks received critical praise for his featured role in PBS'sAmerican Playhouse production ofHalf Slave, Half Free: Solomon Northup's Odyssey, directed byGordon Parks. The story chronicled the life ofSolomon 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 ofFinnegan Begin Again. In 1987, he starred in the role of Uncle Tom inShowtime's filmed adaptation ofUncle Tom's Cabin. Brooks was nominated for anAce 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 movieRoots: The Gift, which featured his fellowStar Trek actorsLeVar Burton,Kate Mulgrew, andTim Russ.
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 anNAACP 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 theDisney animated seriesGargoyles.
In 2001, Brooks narrated and appeared in a series of commercials forIBM.[17]
Brooks has taught atOberlin College andCase Western Reserve University.[citation needed] A graduate ofLivingston College andMason Gross School of the Arts atRutgers 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 theNational Black Arts Festival in association with Rutgers University. Held annually[18] since 1988 inAtlanta, Georgia, the internationally renowned festival celebrates African-American culture and people of African descent. In addition, Brooks has also done extensive work with theSmithsonian Institution's Program in Black American Culture.[19]
A deep baritone singer, Brooks has performed on stage withButch Morris,Lester Bowie, andJon Hendricks. He also recorded an album with saxophone playerJames Spaulding,James Spaulding Plays the Legacy of Duke Ellington (Storyville, 1977). Brooks had the lead role in the 1985Anthony Davis operaX: 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 theFrank Sinatra tune "The Best Is Yet to Come" at the conclusion of theDeep Space Nine episode "Badda-Bing Badda-Bang" as a duet withJames Darren.
In a brief venture into scoring, Brooks composed the musical score for the final two episodes ofA 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 theSpringfield Symphony Orchestra at theSpringfield 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]
Brooks received critical acclaim inPhillip Hayes Dean's playPaul 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 inLos Angeles, theKennedy Center inWashington, D.C., and the Longacre Theater onBroadway. He also portrayed Robeson inAre You Now Or Have You Ever Been?, both on- andoff-Broadway.
Brooks' early theater credits includeThe Offering,A PHOTOGRAPH: A Study of Cruelty, andAre You Now or Have You Ever Been? in the 1970s. He started to gain recognition after his appearance inSpell #7 at the Public/Anspache Theater inNew York City in 1979. He subsequently starred inOthello at the Folger Shakespeare Festival (1985) andFences at the Repertory Theater ofSt. Louis, Missouri, in 1990. He reprised the role ofOthello at the Washington Shakespeare Theater in 1990–1991.
During 1994, he was inducted in theCollege of Fellows of the American Theatre.[4] Brooks later appeared in the title role ofThe Oedipus Plays, a production that traveled to the 2003Athens Festival in Greece. He also appeared in the title role ofKing Lear atYale's Repertory Theatre. In 2005, Brooks again starred asOthello, this time at theShakespeare Theatre Company in a production directed by renownedMichael Kahn. Brooks was one of 15 actors of theShakespeare 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 inChristopher Marlowe'sTamburlaine. His performance was interrupted when an injury made it necessary for him to take time off to heal.[22][23]
In September 2008, Brooks playedWilly Loman in a production ofDeath of a Salesman atOberlin College.[24][25]
During 2010, Brooks performed inBaltimore Center Stage's production ofKwame Kwei-Armah's play Let There Be Love.[26] Once again, Brooks played the title role ofPaul Robeson at the Shakespeare Theater from March 24–27 in 2011.
Brooks played Dr. Bob Sweeney inAmerican History X (1998) alongsideEdward Norton and anotherStar Trek actor,Jennifer Lien. He also played the role of Paris in the 1998 filmThe Big Hit, co-starringMark Wahlberg. His last feature-film role was in 2001 as Detective Leon Jackson in15 Minutes, which also starredRobert De Niro andEdward Burns.
Brooks has also hosted several documentaries and served as narrator in such features as the IMAX filmAfrica's Elephant Kingdom. His other documentary credits include narratingEarthquake!,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, andGod vs. Satan. He also narrated the three-part seriesHeart of Africa, consisting ofHeart 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, andHeart of Africa: Fire and Ice, about the lowland animals of the Rift Valley.
In May 2007, Brooks recorded the narration for the documentaryThe Better Hour, which is about the life ofWilliam Wilberforce, the man who led the campaign for the end ofslavery in the United Kingdom in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.[27]
Brooks also provided the narration for theBBC seriesWalking with Dinosaurs when it aired in North America on theDiscovery 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, titledDrain 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 byWilliam Shatner in the feature-length documentaryThe Captains. The film was written and directed by Shatner and features the originalStar Trekcaptain interviewing every other actor who had portrayed a prominently recurring captain, upon whom thescience-fiction franchise had yet been based. Brooks also served as music supervisor for the project.[29]
In 2013, Brooks began to narrate the Christian orAbrahamic seriesThe Bible's Greatest Secrets, on theAmerican Heroes Channel, which attempted to use interpretations of events found in theBible 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]
Brooks was part of a directors panel at a festival celebrating the work ofNtozake Shange at theNew Federal Theatre on February 11, 2007. Brooks has directed Shange'sBoogie Woogie Landscapes at theJohn F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and inLondon'sWest End.[32]
As part ofBBC Audiobooks America's entry into the US market, Brooks narrated anaudiobook ofAlex Haley's novelRoots: The Saga of an American Family. This was the first time the novel was adapted into an audiobook. Brooks had previously starred in a 1988television film based upon the book,Roots: The Gift. As an audio book,Roots: The Saga of an American Family won anAudie 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]
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 inPrinceton, New Jersey.
After police received a report of erratic driving, at around 10 PM on January 29, 2012, Brooks was arrested under charges ofdriving under the influence inWilton, Connecticut (with a court date of February 9 that year).[39][40][41][42]
He shares the same birthday as fellow Star Trek alumnaPersis Khambatta. One of his favourite albums isAl Jarreau's Live in Berlin. Brooks is also close toCirroc Lofton, his "TV son" as on DS9.[43][44] He is also a fan of baseball and namesDick Allen as his favourite player.[45][44]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Moments Without Proper Names | — | |
| 1998 | The Big Hit | Paris | |
| American History X | Dr. Bob Sweeney | ||
| 2001 | God Lives Underwater: Fame | Detective Leon Jackson | Short film |
| 15 Minutes | |||
| 2011 | The Captains | Himself | Documentary |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | American Playhouse | Solomon Northup | Episode: "Solomon Northup's Odyssey" |
| 1985 | Finnegan Begin Again | Passenger on bus | Television film |
| 1985–1988 | Spenser: For Hire | Hawk | 65 episodes |
| 1987 | Uncle Tom's Cabin | Uncle Tom | Television film Nominated—CableACE Award for Actor in a Movie or Miniseries |
| 1989 | A Man Called Hawk | Hawk | 14 episodes |
| 1988 | Roots: The Gift | Cletus Moyer | Television film |
| 1993 | The Ernest Green Story | Rev. Lawson | |
| Spenser: Ceremony | Hawk | ||
| 1993–1999 | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine | Commander/CaptainBenjamin Sisko | 174 episodes Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series(1997–98) Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television |
| 1994 | Spenser: Pale Kings and Princes | Hawk | Television film |
| Spenser: The Judas Goat | |||
| 1995 | Spenser: A Savage Place | ||
| 1996 | Gargoyles | Nokkar | Voice, episode: "Sentinel" |
| 1997 | Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child | King Maximus | Voice, episode: "The Golden Goose" |
| 2000 | Walking with Dinosaurs | Narrator | Documentary |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Harbinger | Capt. Benjamin Sisko | |
| 2006 | Star Trek: Legacy |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
