braugher's first film role was in the 1989 film "glory" as thomas searles, a free, educated black man from the north who joins the first black regiment in the union army. he played kojak's sidekick in the late-1980s abc television film revival of "kojak". he subsequently moved on to a role on the television series "" as detective frank pembleton, a self-righteous, fiery, unyielding, jesuit-educated police detective. playing opposite kyle secor (who portrayed detective tim bayliss), braugher became the series' breakout star. he received television critics association awards for individual achievement in drama in 1997 and 1998. he was nominated for a primetime emmy award for outstanding lead actor in a drama series in 1996 and 1998, winning in the latter year. he left "homicide" after its sixth season but returned for the reunion . he has also co-starred in the films "city of angels", "frequency" and "poseidon". in 1997, he was selected by "people" as one of the "50 most beautiful people in the world".