Richard Brooks (actor)

Richard Brooks
Born	Richard L. Brooks (1962-12-09) December 9, 1962 Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Education	Interlochen Center for the Arts
Occupations	Actor singer director
Years active	1983–present

Richard L. Brooks (born December 9, 1962) is an American actor, singer, and director. He played the eccentric bounty hunter Jubal Early in the space-western Firefly and assistant district attorney Paul Robinette in the NBC drama series Law & Order 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 drama series, Being Mary Jane.

Early life

Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Brooks studied acting, dance, and voice work at Interlochen Academy of Arts in Michigan. 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 Theater Conference production of August Wilson's Fences, which gained him a positive reputation. A subsequent move to Los Angeles found the actor landing television roles in Hill Street Blues 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 (1985), The Hidden (1987), Off Limits (1988), Shakedown (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 (1989), directed by Patrick Sheane Duncan.

Throughout the 1990s, most of his popularity came from his widespread exposure in his role as Paul Robinette on Law & Order. However, the actor would constantly find himself alternating between the feature films, television, and the stage. After appearing in The Substitute 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). It is about a young, urban black man who makes a positive change after suffering amnesia. Brooks returned to television for the short-lived series G vs E in 1999. In 2001, he made a guest appearance in NYPD Blue. Brooks is also well known by some science fiction fans for his appearance on Joss Whedon's Firefly, as a bounty hunter named Jubal Early in the existentialist series finale "Objects in Space". 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, alongside Nathan Fillion, 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, written by August Wilson, at Geva Theatre Center in Rochester, New York. He played Frederick Douglass in the 2013 PBS series The Abolitionists.

Brooks starred as Patrick in the BET original series Being Mary Jane. It premiered July 2, 2013.

Brooks starred as Lead Marshal Pollack in Person of Interest, season 3, "The Devil's Share".

Brooks played Warden Gregory Wolfe in season 4 of The Flash, and Dwight Wise in Seasons 5 and 6 of the show Bosch.

Brooks played Augustus Barringer on the UMC network comedy The Rich and the Ruthless (2017–2021).

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	With Intent to Kill	Eddie Cox	TV movie
1985	Teen Wolf	Lemonade
	Badge of the Assassin	Anthony "Tony" Bottom	TV movie
1986	Resting Place	Booker T. Douglas	TV movie
	Good to Go	Chemist
1987	A Special Friendship	Matt Bowser	TV movie
	The Hidden	Sanchez
1988	Saxo	Joe
	Off Limits	Preacher
	Shakedown	Michael Jones
1989	Terror on Highway 91	-	TV movie
	84C MoPic	OD
	Shocker	Rhino
	The Neon Empire	Tampa	TV movie
1990	To Sleep with Anger	Babe Brother
1992	Memphis	Eben Kinship	TV movie
1995	Chameleon	Tom Wilson
1996	Black Rose of Harlem	Yancey
	The Substitute	Wellman
	The Crow: City of Angels	Judah Earl
	Code Name: Wolverine	Special Agent John Baines	TV movie
1998	The Wedding	Lincoln Odis	TV movie
	Johnny B Good	-
	The Adventures of Ragtime	Agent Dooley
	Acid Rain	-
1999	In Too Deep	Wesley
2004	Lexie	Ricardo French	Video
2006	Spy Games: The Black Wolf Hunt	-	TV movie
2009	Dough Boys	Detective Nichols
2010	Who Da Man?	Dante	Short
2011	In My Pocket	Dr. Barry
2013	Officer Down	McAlister's Lawyer
2015	The Sin Seer	Jake Ballard
2016	You Can't Hurry Love	Pastor Avery	TV movie
2020	Noah's Arc: The 'Rona Chronicles	Wade's Dad	Short
	Troubled Waters	Floyd Cash
	Steele Justice	Alex

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	Hill Street Blues	Tyrone Crane	Episode: "The Russians Are Coming"
1988	Spenser: For Hire	Robert	Episode: "The Siege"
1989	Tour of Duty	Private First Class Marsten	Episode: "True Grit"
	Almost Grown	Curtis	Episode: "Jersey Blues"
1990–2006	Law & Order	Paul Robinette	Main Cast: Season 1-3, guest: Season 6 & 16-17
1994	ER	Mr. Freeman	Episode: "Chicago Heat"
	Chicago Hope	Henry Lavelle	Episode: "Shutt Down"
	Diagnosis: Murder	Mercury "The Heat" Jones	Episode: "Standing Eight Count"
1995	Renegade	Barry	Episode: "Repo Raines"
1997	Nash Bridges	Max Moore	Episode: "Found Money"
	Renegade	Agent Marcus Donner	Episode: "Top Ten with a Bullet"
1998	Brimstone	Hasdrabul Skaras	Episode: "Slayer"
	NYPD Blue	Everette McRae	Episode: "Hammer Time"
1999	WWE Raw	Henry McNeil	Episode: "Rebellion Results"
	Judging Amy	Mr. Plymouth	Episode: "Presumed Innocent"
1999–2000	G vs E	Henry McNeil	Main Cast
2001	NYPD Blue	Captain Eric Knowlton	Episode: "Franco, My Dear, I Don't Give a Damn"
	Dead Last	Tyrell Nitro "TNT" Thompson	Episode: "The Problem with Corruption"
2002	Firefly	Jubal Early	Episode: "Objects in Space"
2003	Skin	-	Episode: "Pilot"
	NCIS	Lieutenant Colonel Walsh	Episode: "Marine Down"
2006	Close to Home	Phil Raab	Episode: "Community"
2007	Drive	Detective Ehrle	Recurring cast
2009	Lie to Me	Mark Boulware	Episode: "Life is Priceless"
2011	Childrens Hospital	Robert	Episode: "Father's Day"
	Charlie's Angels	Richard Umbaque	Episode: "Royal Angels"
2013	American Experience	Frederick Douglass	Episode: "The Abolitionists: Part 1-3"
	Person of Interest	Lead Marshal Pollack	Episode: "The Devil's Share"
2013–19	Being Mary Jane	Patrick Patterson	Main Cast
2015	Elementary	Detective Demps	Episode: "For All You Know"
2016	The Good Wife	Ace Barnstone	Episode: "Targets"
2017	Chicago Justice	Defense Attorney Paul Robinette	Episode: "Uncertainty Principle"
2017–18	The Flash	Warden Gregory Wolfe	Recurring cast: Season 4
2017–21	The Rich and the Ruthless	Augustus Barringer	Main Cast
2018–19	Jacqueline and Jilly	Magnus Mitchell	Main Cast
2019	The Blacklist	Mitchell Young	Episode: "Olivia Olson (No. 115)"
	All Rise	Assistant Chief Jack Healy	Episodes: "Pilot" & "A View from the Bus"
2019–20	Bosch	Dwight Wise	Recurring cast: Season 5-6
2019–21	Good Trouble	Joseph	Recurring cast: Season 2-3
2020	The Haves and the Have Nots	Al	Recurring cast: Season 7, guest: Season 8
2021	Chicago P.D.	Lieutenant Mike Carey	Episode: "Tender Age"
	Shameless Hall of Shame	Big Liam	Episode: "Frank: Ghosts of Gallagher Past"
2022	Abbott Elementary	Gerald	Episode: "Gifted Program"

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2018	Daytime Emmy Awards	Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Digital Daytime Drama Series	The Rich and the Ruthless	Nominated

External links

• Richard Brooks at IMDb