Richard L. Brooks (born December 9, 1962) is an American actor, singer, and director. He played the eccentric bounty hunter

Jubal Early Jubal Anderson Early (November 3, 1816 – March 2, 1894) was a Virginia lawyer and politician who became a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Trained at the United States Military Academy, Early resigned his U.S. Army commissio ...

in the space-western ''

Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

'' and assistant district attorney

Paul Robinette Paul Robinette, played by Richard Brooks, is a fictional character who appeared in the TV drama series '' Law & Order'' from the pilot episode in 1990 until the final episode of the third season, "Benevolence," in 1993. He is the first of th ...

in the NBC drama series ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...

'' from 1990 to 1993, later appearing as a defense attorney on that same show. In 2013, he began starring as Patrick Patterson in the

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

drama series, ''

Being Mary Jane ''Being Mary Jane'' is an American drama television series created by Mara Brock Akil and starring Gabrielle Union, that debuted January 7, 2014 on BET. The 90-minute-pilot for the series aired on July 2, 2013. The series follows the professiona ...

''.

Early life

Born and raised in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, Brooks studied

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

, and

voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in ...

work at Interlochen Academy of Arts in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. Later, he moved to New York City and was a student of the Circle in the Square Professional Theater School.

Career

While in New York, Brooks performed in the

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier ...

Theater Conference production of

August Wilson August Wilson ( Frederick August Kittel Jr.; April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America". He is best known for a series of ten plays, collectively called ' (or ...

's ''

Fences A fence is a barrier enclosing or bordering a field, yard, etc., usually made of posts and wire or wood, used to prevent entrance, to confine, or to mark a boundary. Fence or fences may also refer to: Entertainment Music * Fences (band), an Amer ...

'', which gained him a positive reputation. A subsequent move to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

found the actor landing television roles in ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station loca ...

'' and ''The Russians Are Coming'', along with made-for-TV features such as ''Badge of the Assassin'' (1985) and ''Resting Place'' (1986). With ''

Teen Wolf ''Teen Wolf'' is a 1985 American coming-of-age romantic fantasy comedy film directed by Rod Daniel and written by Jeph Loeb and Matthew Weisman. Michael J. Fox stars as the title character, a high school student whose ordinary life is chang ...

'' (1985), '' The Hidden'' (1987), '' Off Limits'' (1988), ''

Shakedown Shakedown may refer to: * Shakedown (continuum mechanics), a type of plastic deformation * Shakedown (testing) or a shakedown cruise, a period of testing undergone by a ship, airplane or other craft before being declared operational * Extortion, ...

'' (1988), and '' Shocker'' (1989), Brooks began his work in the world of feature films. Brooks appeared as OD in the award-winning film ''

84C MoPic ''84C MoPic'' (also known as ''84 Charlie MoPic''; released in the Philippines as ''Platoon 2'') is a 1989 American independent found footage war drama film written and directed by Patrick Sheane Duncan. Premise The film is a mock documentary o ...

'' (1989), directed by

Patrick Sheane Duncan Patrick Sheane Duncan (born 1947) is an American writer, film producer and director. A graduate of Grand Valley State University in Allendale Charter Township, Michigan, Duncan's career has been influenced by his Vietnam War experiences, which ...

. Throughout the 1990s, most of his popularity came from his widespread exposure in his role as

on ''

''. However, the actor would constantly find himself alternating between the feature films, television, and the stage. After appearing in ''

The Substitute ''The Substitute'' is a 1996 American crime action thriller film directed by Robert Mandel and starring Tom Berenger, Ernie Hudson, Marc Anthony, William Forsythe, Raymond Cruz and Luis Guzmán. It was filmed at Miami Sr. High school. Plo ...

'' and playing the villain in '' The Crow: City of Angels'' (both 1996), Brooks opted to try his hand at directing, and the result was ''Johnny B Good'' (

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

). It is about a young, urban black man who makes a positive change after suffering

amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be caused temporarily by the use ...

. Brooks returned to television for the short-lived series ''

G vs E ''G vs E'' (later retitled ''Good vs Evil'') is an American supernatural comedy-drama television series that had its first season air on USA Network during the summer and autumn of 1999. For the second season the series switched to Sci-Fi Chann ...

'' in 1999. In 2001 he made a guest appearance in ''

NYPD Blue ''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble c ...

''. Brooks is also well known by some

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

fans for his appearance on

Joss Whedon Joseph Hill Whedon (; born June 23, 1964) is an American filmmaker, composer, and comic book writer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions, co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television series: ...

's ''

'', as a

bounty hunter A bounty hunter is a private agent working for bail bonds who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as bail enforcement agent, or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated outsid ...

named

in the existentialist series finale "

Objects in Space "Objects in Space" is the 14th episode and series finale of the science fiction television series ''Firefly''. '' Serenity'' encounters Jubal Early, a ruthless professional bounty hunter who will stop at nothing to retrieve River. But River, feel ...

". He also appeared as Hasdrabul Skaras in "Slayer", the fifth episode of the series '' Brimstone''. He also appeared as Detective Ehrle in the short-lived Fox series ''

Drive Drive or The Drive may refer to: Motoring * Driving, the act of controlling a vehicle * Road trip, a journey on roads Roadways Roadways called "drives" may include: * Driveway, a private road for local access to structures, abbreviated "drive" ...

'', alongside

Nathan Fillion Nathan Fillion (; born March 27, 1971) is a Canadian-American actor. He played the leading roles of Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds on '' Firefly'' and its film continuation '' Serenity'', and Richard Castle on '' Castle''. , he was starring as J ...

, with whom Brooks had worked on ''Firefly''. In addition to his film work, Brooks also founded his own production company, Flat Top Entertainment LLC. At the dawn of the millennium, Brooks released his first solo R&B album, ''Smooth Love'', on Flat Top Records. In March 2011, Brooks played the role of Harmond Wilkes in ''

Radio Golf Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

'', written by

, at

Geva Theatre Center Geva Theatre Center is a regional, not-for-profit, professional theatre company based in Rochester, New York. It is housed in an 1868 building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, located in Rochester at 75 Woodbury Boulevard. The C ...

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

. He played

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

in the 2013 PBS series ''The Abolitionists''. Brooks stars as Patrick in the

original series ''

''. It premiered July 2, 2013. Brooks stars as Lead Marshal Pollack in ''

Person of Interest "Person of interest" is a term used by law enforcement in the United States, Canada, and other countries when identifying someone possibly involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime. It has no leg ...

'', season 3, "The Devil's Share". Brooks played Warden Wolfe in season 4 of ''

The Flash The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...

'', and Dwight Wise in Seasons 5 and 6 of the show '' Bosch''. Brooks plays Augustus Barringer on the UMC network comedy '' The Rich and the Ruthless'' (2017–present).

Filmography

Film/Movie

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Richard American male stage actors American male film actors American male singers American male television actors African-American male actors African-American film directors American rhythm and blues singers Singers from Ohio Male actors from Cleveland Interlochen Center for the Arts alumni Circle in the Square Theatre School alumni Film directors from Michigan Film directors from Ohio 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors 1962 births Living people 20th-century African-American male singers 21st-century African-American people