Brooks was known, at that time, for his role on “Spenser: For Hire” as Hawk. Eventually, Hawk got his own show. For the part, Brooks sported a shaved head and goatee. That is the same look he had on Seasons 4-7 of “Deep Space Nine.” According to ScreenRant, it was a part of Brooks’ contract with Paramount that he keep the hair. It turns out that both Brooks and DS9 showrunner Ira Steven Behr pushed for Sisko to shave his head. In the documentary “What We Left Behind,” Berman told Behr that there was a lot of “conversation about African American men and facial hair. It was something that was very important.” In the documentary, Behr said that it took three seasons for Paramount to allow Brooks to shave his head and grow his goatee. “This is a look that he was very clear on,” said Behr. “This is how he felt comfortable as a person in life.” In the film, Behr pressed former Paramount Television chairman Kerry McCluggage for an answer as to why it took three seasons for them to relent and allow Brooks to adopt his ‘look.’ “I do think going in, particularly that he was coming in off of ‘Hawk,’ we were also in the 24th Century, that we thought it would be a mistake to go … to … lack of a better word ‘street,’” said McCluggage. Later in “What We Left Behind,” Penny Johnson Jerald, who played Sisko’s wife (Kassidy Yates), said that after Brooks shaved his head, he was “incredibly sexy.” “I always wanted to touch it,” said Jerald.

The Controversial Hairstyle of Avery Brooks’ Captain Sisko