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| “ | If you want to be a gangster in my town, you'll pay me for the privilege. | „ |
| ~ Nucky Thompson's most famous line. |
| “ | It means when i'm conducting business, I mind it. It and only it. Not some piece of ass with a sugary voice, not my pride, my business. | „ |
| ~ Nucky Thompson to Chalky White. |
| “ | I carried people's bags. First time I was tipped a nickel, I thought the world was a marvelous place. But a dime? A dime would be better. And when I got a dime, I thought... a quarter. | „ |
| ~ Nucky to his wife Margaret |
Enoch Malachi "Nucky" Thompson, Sr. is the main protagonist of the HBO crime drama series Boardwalk Empire. He is a politician and crime boss in Prohibition-era Atlantic City, New Jersey who controls the city's organized crime and bootlegging business.
He was portrayed by Steve Buscemi, who also played Francis E. Francis in The Boss Baby, Garland Greene in Con Air, Carl Showalter in Fargo, Dwight Diddlehopper in The Simpsons, Dorsal Dan in Spongebob Squarepants, Gordon Pratt in Homicide: Life on the Street, Tony Blundetto in The Sopranos, Mr. Wesley in Home on the Range, Randall Boggs in the Monsters, Inc. franchise, and Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
The son of Irish immigrants, Nucky grew up in poverty and was frequently abused by his alcoholic father, Ethan, who once scarred Nucky's hand with a fireplace poker for beginning dinner without him. His mother Eleanor and younger sister Susan died of tuberculosis, leaving Nucky to protect his younger brother Eli from their father's drunken rages and support the family when Ethan was too drunk to work.
As a boy, Nucky began working for political boss Commodore Louis Kaestner, who controlled the city's organized crime. The Commodore eventually made him deputy sheriff of Atlantic City and promoted him to sheriff after Nucky reluctantly arranged for him to rape a 13-year-old girl named Gillian Darmody. Nucky ultimately rose through the ranks to County Treasurer, which allowed him to virtually run the city behind closed doors, along with Eli, who replaced him as sheriff. Nucky is beloved by the city's poor and immigrant populations, while the city government looks the other way while he breaks the law, as long as he gives them their cut.
Nucky married a young woman named Mabel, who bore him a son, Enoch, Jr. Unfortunately, Enoch Jr. died in infancy, a tragedy that drove Mabel to commit suicide. He became a mentor and father figure to Jimmy Darmody, the Commodore's son with Gillian. Nucky pulled strings to get Jimmy into Princeton, but was disappointed when Jimmy dropped out to enlist in World War I. Nevertheless, he gave Jimmy a job as his personal driver when he returned from the war.
Boardwalk Empire[]
Season 1[]
The series begins in 1920, as Prohibition is about to go into effect. Nucky publicly supports the ban on alcohol, while secretly planning to get rich by controlling the bootlegging operations in Atlantic City.
He goes into business with crime boss and smuggler Arnold Rothstein, but their plans are put in jeopardy when Jimmy and his friend Al Capone rob one of Rothstein's liquor convoys. He gets Jimmy out of trouble by framing local criminal Hans Schroeder for the robbery and having him killed. He then begins a romance with Schroeder's widow, Margaret, and informally adopts her two children, Teddy and Emily.
Meanwhile, Nucky fires one of his underlings, Mickey Doyle, and gives Doyle's territory to Chalky White, leader of the African-American mob in New Jersey. Doyle retaliates by informing on Nucky and White to their rivals, the D'Alessio Brothers, who try to kill Chalky. To prevent a gang war, Nucky sends for Jimmy, who eventually kills the D'Alessios. Nucky then forms an alliance with presidential candidate Warren G. Harding and his corrupt campaign manager Harry Daugherty, manipulating the Republican delegation into nominating Harding and paying his mistress to go away in return for funding for a road he intends to use as a smuggling route from New York to New Jersey.
When Margaret learns the extent of Nucky's corruption, they get into an argument in which she accuses him of having her husband killed, which Nucky neither confirms nor denies. She leaves him, but has second thoughts after learning of the death of his wife and child. They get back together after he tells her that his time with her and the children has been the happiest of his life. They celebrate the new year together, with Nucky blissfully unaware that Jimmy, who has learned the truth about Nucky pimping out his mother, and Eli, who resents living in Nucky's shadow, are plotting against him with the Commodore's backing.
Season 2[]
Nucky is arrested for voter fraud, corruption, and murder, charges orchestrated by the Commodore, Eli, and Jimmy. When the Commodore has a stroke, Eli panics and goes to Nucky for protection, but Nucky disowns him and Margaret forces him out of their house at gunpoint. After their father dies, Eli tries to repair their relationship at the funeral, but Nucky rebuffs him. Soon afterward, Jimmy's men make an unsuccessful attempt on Nucky's life.
He pretends to surrender to the Commodore and Jimmy in order to lull them into inaction. He then bombs Jimmy's distillery and convinces Chalky to lead the city's Black waiting staff in going on strike, crippling the speakeasy business; this leaves Jimmy with no product and no customers. Nucky travels to Ireland and buys a huge supply of Irish whiskey from the IRA, making him the most powerful bootlegger in Atlantic City.
However, U.S. Attorney Esther Randolph has by now found enough evidence of Nucky's crimes to send him to the electric chair. Nucky gives Margaret guardianship of the proposed road property to safeguard his money, but when Emily contracts polio, Margaret thinks it is divine retribution and considers testifying against Nucky to save her soul and those of her children. When she sees Nucky teaching Emily to walk in her leg braces, however, she realizes that he truly loves them, and marries him.
After Jimmy kills the Commodore, Nucky hires him to kill the witnesses in the government's case against him. With the prosecution's witnesses dead or recanted, the case against Nucky falls apart. He tells Eli that he will spare his life if he takes the fall for the election fraud and goes to jail. Finally, he lures Jimmy into a trap by telling him he has kidnapped Manny Horvitz, a gangster who murdered Jimmy's wife; Nucky then shoots Jimmy twice in the head, killing him. The next morning, he tells Margaret that has made peace with Jimmy, who has re-enlisted in the Army. Margaret sees through the lie, and punishes him by giving the deed to the road construction land to her church.
Season 3[]
Two years later, Nucky arranges to sell exclusively to Rothstein, which angers mob boss Joe Masseria and his psychopathic right-hand man Gyp Rosetti. The latter takes over Tabor Heights and blockades Nucky's liquor convoy. A turf war ensues in which Rosetti kills 11 of Nucky's men, and Nucky retaliates by sending a hitman, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, to kill Rosetti, a mission that is ultimately unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, Nucky's marriage to Margaret has fallen apart, with both husband and wife semi-openly cheating on each other. Nucky gives Eli a job at a liquor warehouse when he gets out of jail, but has nothing to do with him personally. This changes when Eli tries, unsuccessfully, to stop Rosetti from ambushing one of Nucky's deliveries. Nucky shows his appreciation by inviting Eli to Easter dinner, where they resolve their differences and go back to working together.
Daugherty tries to frame Nucky for the Harding administration's crimes, but Nucky outwits him by persuading Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon to indict Daugherty's cronies Jess Smith and George Remus in return for Nucky running Mellon's distillery in Pennsylvania. This leaves Nucky in the clear and marks the beginning of the end for the Harding administration.
Rosetti convinces Masseria to let him take over Atlantic City, and finds an ally in Gillian, who wants revenge for Jimmy's murder. Rosetti tries to kill Nucky by bombing his favorite supper club while he is in a meeting there; Nucky survives, but his mistress Billie Kent is killed. Nucky meets with the city's gang leaders and asks them to kill Rosetti, but they decline, fearing Masseria's retribution.
Nucky orders his personal assassin Owen Sleater to kill Rosetti, unaware that he and Margaret are lovers and she is pregnant with his child. However, Nucky's erstwhile associates Charlie "Lucky" Luciano and Meyer Lansky warn Masseria in return for the mob boss financing their heroin operation. Masseria's men kill Sleater and send his corpse to Nucky via special delivery. When Margaret bursts into tears over Sleater's body, Nucky realizes they had been having an affair.
Rosetti sends men to kill Nucky, who barely escapes with his life. Nucky makes a deal with Capone and White to provide him with men and weapons to fight back against Rosetti, resulting in a bloody gang war. Nucky has Rothstein persuade Masseria to withdraw support from Rosetti in return for a controlling stake in Mellon's distillery. It turns out to be a trap, however; as part of his deal with Nucky, Mellon has Rothstein arrested.
Nucky's men attack Rosetti in Gillian's brothel, led by Jimmy's friend and fellow veteran Richard Harrow, who massacres Rosetti's men and saves Jimmy's son, Tommy. Rosetti escapes, but his lieutenant Tonino murders him in return for Nucky sparing his life, Nucky finds Margaret after she has aborted Sleater's child and offers to take her back, but she refuses and leaves him.
Season 4[]
A year later, Nucky has made peace with Rothstein and Masseria, and taken on Luciano and Lansky as partners in the distillery. He goes to Florida to meet with distillery owner Bill McCoy and goes into business with him, unaware that McCoy has murdered his business partner. Nucky also begun an affair with speakeasy manager Sally Wheet.
Back in New Jersey, FBI agent James Tolliver arrests Nucky's faithful butler Eddie Kessler, and blackmails him into informing on Nucky; stricken with guilt, Eddie commits suicide. Nucky has an uncomfortable meeting with Margaret days later, informing her of Eddie's death, as she had been fond of him.
Meanwhile, Nucky gets Eli's son Willie out of a murder charge by framing Willie's college roommate and bribing the District Attorney of Philadelphia. Tolliver finds out what really happened, however, and threatens to send Willie to prison unless Eli informs on Nucky. Left with no choice, Eli becomes Tolliver's spy, and arranges a meeting between his brother and Masseria where both are to be arrested.
White, meanwhile, faces a threat in Harlem heroin kingpin Valentin Narcisse, and asks Nucky to help him eliminate his competitor. Nucky refuses, but changes his mind after White is nearly killed by men working for corrupt Atlantic City Mayor Edward Bader, who is in business with Narcisse. Nucky sends Harrow to kill Narcisse in return for having Gillian arrested for murder so Harrow and his new wife can adopt Tommy. The hit goes wrong, however, and Harrow and White's daughter are killed.
Nucky begins to suspect that Eli is working against him, and cancels the meeting with Masseria. He confronts Eli and pulls a gun on him, but relents when Willie walks in on them. After Eli kills Tolliver, Nucky sends him to Chicago under the protection of his friend, mob boss Johnny Torrio. Nucky then goes to Cuba with Sally.
Season 5[]
In 1931, Nucky divides his time between New York, New Jersey, and Cuba, planning to go into the legal liquor business in anticipation of the end of Prohibition. In Cuba, Luciano and Lansky trio to kill Nucky, who confronts their boss, Salvatore Maranzano.
After Mayflower Grain executive Joseph Kennedy turns down Nucky's proposal for a partnership, Nucky returns to Atlantic City, where he befriends a bellhop named Joe Harper. He also meets with Margaret for the first time in years, as she asks for his help dealing with Rothstein's widow, who is blackmailing her. Nucky agrees to pay off Rothstein's widow in return for Margaret's help driving down stock prices for Mayflower Grain, where she now works. Soon afterward, Sally is murdered by Havana police on Luciano's payroll, and Capone tells him that Luciano has turned on Maranzano and plans to betray Nucky next.
When Nucky meets with Maranzano, men working for Luciano and Torrio try to kill him, and he declares war on both of them. He tries to force a meeting with Luciano and Lansky by kidnapping their associate Siegel, but they kidnap Willie in retaliation. Nucky and Luciano meet, and Nucky offers to give Luciano all his business in Atlantic City if he will let Willie live. Luciano accepts thew deal and lets Willie go, and Nucky proves his commitment by having Maranzano killed.
Nucky and Margaret short-sell Mayflower's stock, netting them both a huge profit. Nucky bids goodbye to her and Eli as he plans to retire and leave Atlantic City. He receives a note from Gillian begging him to help her get out of the sanatorium where she was institutionalized after Nucky had her arrested. He refuses to get her out on the sanatorium, but promises to set up a trust fund for her should she get out on her own.
On his last night in Atlantic City, Nucky gets a call from the police, who have arrested Harper. Nucky bails him out of jail and gives him money, but Harper angrily refuses. Later that night, Harper confronts Nucky and reveals who he really is: Tommy Darmody, Jimmy's son and Gillian's grandson. He accuses Nucky of abandoning Gillian, and guns him down. As he dies, Nucky sees a vision of himself as a child catching a coin thrown to him by the Commodore, symbolizing the moment that he started on the path that would eventually lead to his downfall.
Personality[]
Nucky was an extremely intelligent, cunning, and charismatic criminal. Due to his political position in Atlantic City, Nucky was able to create a successful empire based on extortion, smuggling, murder and robbery. Growing up in poverty, having lost his mother and sister when he was young, and being constantly beaten by his father, Nucky grew up to be a cynical and pragmatic man. Willing to prove to his father and himself that he was worth something, Nucky worked from an early age to not only become rich, but also to gain some meaning in his life.
Sadly, upon losing his wife and baby, Nucky plunged further into the criminal underworld. Nucky tried to keep himself between the two sides of the law, still as treasurer of Atlantic City. However, after successive losses and betrayals, he embraced his criminal side. Nucky took to killing anyone who interfered with his business, abandoning the mask of goodness he once possessed.
Still, Nucky could feel guilty about his actions, especially if they involved people close to him. Over the years, he began to have nightmares about the people he killed, particularly Jimmy. Nucky preferred others to do his empire's dirty work, hiring assassins and bodyguards to take care of various parts of his schemes. He had an interest in literature, mathematics, and poetry, which helped his rich vocabulary used in political speeches or negotiations.
Nucky was afraid of being alone, a fear he revealed to very few people. His successive battles for control of Atlantic City left him a weary and depressed man.
Trivia[]
- Nucky is loosely based upon Enoch "Nucky" Johnson, who was treasurer and political boss of Atlantic City from 1910 to 1941.
External Links[]
- Nucky Thompson at Wikipedia
- Nucky Thompson at the Boardwalk Empire Wiki