Hollywood actor Bobby J Brown, who played Officer Bobby Brown on HBO’s hit cop series The Wire, died Thursday in a barn fire in Maryland at the age of 62.
Brown’s daughter confirmed his death to TMZ after the incident, saying the actor died of smoke inhalation and is not believed to have suffered the serious burns caused by the deadly flames.
According to TMZ, the actor’s cause of death was ruled to be diffuse heat injury and smoke inhalation, according to the Maryland Medical Examiner’s office.
The fire started after Brown entered the barn and attempted to start the vehicle.
It’s unclear exactly what happened, but TMZ reported that moments after entering the barn, Brown called his family to get him a fire extinguisher.
When the actor’s family got to the barn, it was already engulfed in flames. Brown’s wife suffered severe burns while trying to get the actor out of the burning barn, TMZ reported.
Who Was Bobby J Brown?
Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Robert Joseph Brown boxed in his youth, posting a 73-13 amateur record and winning five Golden Glove championships, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Brown made his screen debut in a 1998 episode of NBC’s Homicide: Life on the Street and has also appeared in two HBO miniseries set in Baltimore, namely The Corner (2000) and the recent We Own This City (2022).
However, the actor’s most famous role was in The Wire, a five-season hit HBO series created by David Simon and set in Baltimore.
Brown appeared in 12 of the show’s 60 episodes, playing a character said to be an homage to a real-life patrolman from the Western District named Bob Brown.
Brown has also appeared in Law & Order: SVU and Veep and in films such as City by the Sea (2002), My One and Only (2016), Fishbowl (2018), Miss Virginia (2019), Really Love (2020) and Off-Time (2022).
The actor also directed two documentaries: Off the Chain (2005) about American pit bull terriers and Tear the Roof Off: The Untold Story of Parliament Funkadelic (2016).
