Avery Brooks
Avery Franklin Brooks  is an accomplished stage, television, and film actor best known for his role as Benjamin Sisko in . He is the only actor to appear in all 173 episodes of the series, and has also directed several episodes. In addition, he played Benny Russell in the episodes  and . He also voiced Sisko in the games Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Harbinger and Star Trek: Legacy.

Biography

Hailing from Evansville, Indiana, Brooks attended Theodore Roosevelt High School in Gary, Indiana. After graduating, he attended Oberlin College in Ohio as well as Indiana University. In 1973, he became the first African-American to receive an MFA in acting and directing from  in New Jersey. He is currently a tenured professor of theater arts at Rutgers' Mason Gross School of the Arts, and in 1993, he was inducted into the Rutgers University Hall of Distinguished Alumni. That same year, he became the Artistic Director of the National Black Arts Festival, a biannual, ten-day festival celebrating the art and culture of the African Diaspora held in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the Artistic Director during the 1994 and 1996 festivals.
 
Raised in a musical family, Brooks has a passion for playing jazz piano as well as acting. In March 2006, he played the piano at the funeral for , who gave Brooks his first television acting experience when Parks directed him in Solomon Northrup's Odyssey in 1984. Brooks also sang the theme from , a film that Parks wrote and directed. Brooks was also present at ' funeral on , at the end of which he read the epilogue from the 1961 play "Purlie Victorious," which Davis wrote.

Brooks has been married to Vicki Bowen since 1976. The couple have three children: Ayana, Asante, and Cabral. Although he continues serving as a tenured professor at Rutgers, Brooks had left his teaching job to play Benjamin Sisko on Deep Space Nine and has yet to return to full-time academic work.

Brooks described himself thusly: "I'm articulate. I'm thoughtful. I'm an intellectual. I care about my work. My standards are very high. That does not make me difficult and demanding. If I raise my voice -- and I do have a big voice -- that's interpreted as something else. It's the classic perception of black males. I still walk on elevators and women clutch their purses closer to their breast."  

David Carson commented on Brooks: "I think that Avery Brooks is a phenomenal actor. I've rarely come across an actor with a combination of his technical skill in front of the camera and an amazing strength of performing with the lens. He's a real joy to work with. And he's extraordinarily deft and constantly interesting, and I think the character gives him much more ability to have these differences in his psychological makeup than Picard, who's a much more straightforward who you can probably predict will react a certain way in different situations. It's very difficult to do that with Sisko, and Avery plays with delight, those opportunities". (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p 25)

Deborah Lacey commented: "Wow. Just wow. I don't have a better word. He is, hands down, the best actor I've ever worked with. And I'm pretty proud of the actors I've starred with. Avery is a generous actor. He cares so much about the art of performance. He's intense, so you can't help but feel engulfed by him. He makes you perform at his level. So, he definitely made me a better actor. I absolutely adore him. Every moment in his presence was like a gift, the gift of working with a master thespian. I'll never forget it". 

Dennis Madalone was impressed by Brooks's stunt work throughout Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Madalone commented: "Of all the stars that I've worked with on all the Star Treks, and all the other shows that I've been on other than Star Trek, I've never seen an actor so physically capable of just doing everything. That's Avery Brooks. He's the best. I worked with  in the late 1970s. He's a heck of a walking stunt actor. Avery is equal to Robert Conrad in fight scenes and physical action. And a gentleman too! He's a great person and giver. Every time I'd bring in a stunt double, he'd be angry, sitting on a bench, because Avery was doing so great". ("Flashback: The Way of the Warrior", )

When the Spenser series was rebooted in 2020, Winston Duke was cast as Hawk. Duke commented: "Avery Brooks’ turn as Hawk was so meaningful for black viewers who got to see this cool, debonair black brother who was doing an unorthodox job at the time and just killing it. It was really great when it came to representation onscreen. It’s such an honor now to be picking up the baton in this relay, to have my own version of Hawk that’s very much a product of the present".

Career

Stage 
Brooks has received high acclaim for his portrayal of  in the long-running one-man show of the same name. Brooks has starred in this play since 1982, including two performances on Broadway (in 1988 and again in 1995). He actually first played Robeson in the 1978 off-Broadway show Are You Now or Have You Ever Been, which ended up on Broadway in early 1979. 

Brooks's stage credits also include many Shakespeare characters, including , , and . In addition, he originated the role of  in 's opera X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, in 1985. He went on to perform in another Anthony Davis opera, Tania. In 2001, he portrayed Oedipus in the Shakespeare Theatre's production of the Oedipus cycle with an all-black cast.

Star Trek
Brooks was cast as Benjamin Sisko, commander of space station Deep Space 9, in . For his performance in this role, Brooks received two Image Award nominations as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, one in 1996 and another in 1997. Also in 1997, he received a Saturn Award nomination from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for his portrayal of Sisko. 

Brooks was initially required by Paramount to keep his head unshaved for the role, as it was thought that if he had a bald head, he might look too much like his previous role as Hawk in Spenser: For Hire. (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 102) Brooks felt more comfortable acting with a shaved head, and between the third and fourth seasons, he approached Rick Berman and Ira Behr. According to Behr, the two producers were expecting resistance at Paramount, but the studio had no problem with the request. From the start of the fourth season, Sisko was portrayed with a shaved head. Director James L. Conway remarked, "It was a terrific idea. I was shooting the episode and I happened to look at some of the reruns of the earlier shows and I said to Avery, 'It's like a different actor.' And Avery said, 'I feel like a different guy.' And you can see it in his performance. With his head shaved, I think he feels much freer, much more himself." (). Robert Hewitt Wolfe noted, "He's actually a little scarier looking but the point is: That's what Avery looks like, so why shouldn't you let the guy look like himself? I think it lets him identify a little more with the character."(Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 102) Brooks remained with the series through all seven seasons, appearing in every single episode, while at the same time continuing his professorship in theater arts at Rutgers University – occasionally instructing classes in his character's costume via prerecorded VHS tapes made on the set.

In , Brooks revealed that he had initially planned to leave Deep Space Nine during the early seasons, due to the strain of television production. However, while having a conversation with his son about the importance of giving and keeping his word, he decided to stay and endured the entire seven year run of the series. (DS9 Season 7 DVD)

Several costumes and uniforms worn by Brooks were sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay, including a command uniform lot from the episode .

Other television appearances

While best known for playing Ben Sisko, Brooks had his first episodic television starring role in  as the lead character's partner, Hawk. Brooks went on to reprise the role of Hawk in the short-lived spinoff, A Man Called Hawk and, while Deep Space Nine was in production, Brooks continued to star in a number of Spenser telefilms (production of these films coincided with Brooks beginning to shave his head as Sisko). 

Robert Urich, who played the character of Spenser, commented on Brooks: "He's one of the most dynamic, interesting human beings I have ever met. He's unpredictable, full of joy and enthusiasm for his family and everything he does. Probably the most interesting aspect of the show is our friendship." (Ebony, Apr 1987, p. 67)

Prior to this, he made his television acting debut playing the title role in the 1984 TV adaptation of Twelve Years a Slave, Solomon Northup's Odyssey. In 1987, he again played the title role in a TV adaptation of a famous novel, this time Uncle Tom's Cabin, which co-starred fellow Star Trek performers Bill Bolender and Albert Hall. Aside from these, he made an appearance in 1985's Finnegan Begin Again (starring Bob Gunton and David Huddleston) and played the role of Cletus Moyer in 1988's Roots: The Gift. The latter also starred  actor LeVar Burton in his famous role of Kunte Kinte and also featured future  stars Kate Mulgrew and Tim Russ. In 1993 he appeared in the TV movie The Ernest Green Story.

He also became one of many Star Trek performers to voice a character in the animated series Gargoyles; others who have done so include LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Kate Mulgrew, Nichelle Nichols, John Rhys-Davies, Salli Elise Richardson, W. Morgan Sheppard, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, David Warner, Frank Welker, and Paul Winfield. In 1997 he voiced a role in an episode of Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child  (together with James Avery).

In 2000, Brooks was the spokesperson for IBM e-business software. He filmed a few television commercials for the company, in which he stated "It's a different kind of world. You need a different kind of software". In one commercial, Brooks asks about the lack of flying cars in 2000.  

 Films and documentaries 
Brooks made his feature film debut in 1998, playing a mafia kingpin in the action thriller The Big Hit. This was followed that same year with the critically-acclaimed drama , which also starred Star Trek: Voyagers Jennifer Lien. Also in 1998, Brooks' deep, commanding voice was employed to narrate various documentary programs, including Africans in America: America's Journey Through Slavery, Africa's Elephant Kingdom, and The Greatest Places.  

After Deep Space Nine ended its run in , Brooks continued to act on stage and continued narrating documentaries such as Jesus: The Complete Story, The Ballad of Big Al, Land of the Mammoth, and Walking with Dinosaurs. He also hosted the Discovery Channel show Unsolved History for a few years. In 2001, he appeared in the short God Lives Underwater: Fame (with Kelsey Grammer) and had a supporting role as a police detective in the film 15 Minutes, which also featured Grammer, Kim Cattrall, and future  star Anton Yelchin. In 2006, it was announced that Brooks was cast in the fourth  film, set for release in 2008; Brooks, however, shot down the rumor at a Star Trek convention. 

Brooks has also participated in a number of Star Trek documentaries and specials, including The Science of Star Trek, Star Trek: 30 Years and Beyond, and Star Trek: Beyond the Final Frontier. Footage of his performances on Deep Space Nine have been used in such documentaries as Ultimate Trek: Star Trek's Greatest Moments and How William Shatner Changed the World.

Brooks was filming an interview on the Star Trek franchise when the 40 Years of Star Trek: The Collection auction was being held at Christies. He briefly entered the bidding room and described the experience as bringing back "great feelings of nostalgia".

Brooks was interviewed by William Shatner for the 2011 documentary, The Captains and for the extended 2013 version The Captains Close Up.

Most recently, Brooks has been involved in the production of What We Left Behind, viewing footage and supporting the effort.  He declined to record a new interview for it, despite repeated requests from Ira Steven Behr, feeling that he had nothing new to add that he has not already said. 

 Recordings 
Brooks can be heard on the soundtrack for Anthony Davis's opera Tania, released in 2001. He sings the role of Cinque in this production.

Brooks recently completed work on Here, a CD containing "a selection of ballads and love songs", in which he praises his father and artists he admires. In 2007, Brooks narrated an audio recording of Alex Haley's Roots.

 Additional roles 

 Acting credits 
 Star Trek 
 All episodes as Benjamin Sisko
Video games:Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Harbinger as Benjamin Sisko (voice only)Star Trek: Legacy as Benjamin Sisko (voice only)

 Other notable works 
 Stage Are You Now or Have You Ever Been (1978-1979) as Paul RobesonPaul Robeson (1982-) as Paul RobesonX: The Life and Times of Malcolm X (1985-1986) as Malcolm XOthello (1985, Folger Shakespeare Festival) as OthelloThe Cherry Orchard (2000, McCarter Theatre Center) as LopahinThe Oedipus Plays (2001, Shakespeare Theatre) as OedipusKing Lear (2004, Yale Repertory Theatre) as King LearTamburlaine (October 28, 2007 to January 6, 2008) as Tamburlaine

 Television Solomon Northrup's Odyssey (TV movie, 1984) as Solomon NorthrupSpenser: For Hire (TV series, 1985-1988) as HawkUncle Tom's Cabin (TV movie, 1987) as Uncle TomRoots: The Gift (TV movie, 1988) as Cletus MoyerA Man Called Hawk (TV series, 1989) as HawkSpenser: Ceremony (TV movie, 1993) as HawkSpenser: Pale Kings and Princes (TV movie, 1994) as HawkSpenser: The Judas Ghost (TV movie, 1994) as HawkSpenser: A Savage Place (TV movie, 1995) as HawkGargoyles (episode: "Sentinel", 1996) as Nokkar (voice only)

 Film The Big Hit (feature film, 1998) as ParisAmerican History X (feature film, 1998, with Jennifer Lien) as Dr. Bob Sweeney15 Minutes (feature film, 2001, with Kelsey Grammer, Kim Cattrall, and Anton Yelchin) as Detective Leon Jackson

 Directorial credits 

 (Season 2)
 (Season 3)

 (Season 4)

 (Season 5)
 (Season 6)
 (Season 7)

 Star Trek interviews 
 TNG Season 7 DVD special feature "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' DVD Preview"
 DS9 Season 1 DVD special feature "Deep Space Nine: A Bold Beginning", interviewed on 
 DS9 Season 1 DVD special feature "Section 31-Hidden File 01", interviewed on 4 November 1992
 DS9 Season 1 DVD special feature "Deep Space Nine Scrapbook Year One", interviewed on 4 November 1992
 DS9 Season 7 DVD special feature "Crew Dossier: Benjamin Sisko"

External links 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Directors
Performers
DS9 performers
Video game performers
Saturn Award nominees
NAACP Image Award nominees