Commanding actor Richard Brooks was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He is an
actor, director and singer. 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 and performed in the
Eugene O'Neill Theater Conference production of August Wilson's Fences.
He moved to Los Angeles, where he started his movie career. Some of his
appearances were in Teen Wolf - Ein Werwolf kommt selten allein (1985), Saigon - Der Tod kennt kein Gesetz (1988), Blue Jean Cop (1988), Shocker (1989) and Zorniger Schlaf (1990). He became
noticed in Mörderischer tausch (1996) with Tom Berenger and as voodoo drug
lord Judah Earl in The Crow: Die Rache der Krähe (1996) with Vincent Perez,
Thomas Jane, Mia Kirshner and Iggy Pop. While on TV, he is best known
as Paul Robinette on Law & Order (1990) and Jubal Early on
Firefly: Der Aufbruch der Serenity (2002). He portrayed Frederick Douglass in the PBS American
Experience docudrama mini-series The Abolitionists (1988) and plays
Gabrielle Union's big brother Patrick in the hit BET drama Being Mary Jane (2013).
