57 Facts About Nucky Thompson

Enoch Malachi "Nucky" Thompson is a fictional character and the protagonist of the HBO TV series Boardwalk Empire, portrayed by Steve Buscemi.

Nucky Thompson is employed as treasurer of Atlantic County, but in effect controls the region as a political boss.

Nucky Thompson is a corrupt and powerful politician who leads a double life as a gangster, and continuously struggles to meet his interests on both fronts.

Enoch "Nucky" Thompson was born around 1870 and raised in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the eldest child of a poor Irish Catholic family.

Nucky Thompson's father Ethan was an abusive alcoholic who at one point scarred Nucky's hand with a fireplace poker.

Fifteen years prior to the series' timeline, Nucky Thompson lost his infant son, Enoch Jr.

Nucky Thompson helped raise Jimmy Darmody, the Commodore's son with Gillian, and pulled strings to get him into Princeton University.

Nucky Thompson is disappointed when Jimmy drops out to enlist in World War I, but still gives him a job as his personal driver after the war ends.

Nucky Thompson is assisted by his younger brother, Atlantic County Sheriff Eli Thompson.

Nucky Thompson makes a deal with mobsters Arnold Rothstein, Lucky Luciano and Johnny Torrio to let them purchase his seaborne liquor shipments exclusively.

Nucky Thompson gets Jimmy out of trouble, while privately reproaching him and banishing him from Atlantic City.

The truck heist leads to Nucky Thompson being put under investigation by Nelson Van Alden, an agent from the Bureau of Prohibition who suspects he knows more about the hijacking than he admits.

Nucky Thompson meets Margaret Schroeder, a pregnant member of the Women's Temperance League who seeks work for her abusive husband, Hans.

Nucky Thompson is immediately taken with her and gives her some money.

Nucky Thompson has Hans killed after he beats her so badly that she miscarries the child, and gets her a job at a boutique after she gets out of the hospital.

Margaret eventually learns the extent of Nucky Thompson's corruption, including his order to have Hans killed.

When Margaret finds out that Nucky Thompson had lost a child she meets with him to express her sympathy, and he tells her that the time he spent with her and her children was the happiest of his life.

Nucky Thompson is forced to demote Eli while the heat blows over, and while he eventually reinstates his brother, their relationship is badly strained.

Nucky Thompson gets a break when Mickey Doyle, who has been partnered with the D'Alessios, double crosses them and gives information to Nucky Thompson about the conspiracy.

Nucky Thompson has Chalky to arrange a false deal with Meyer Lansky in the hopes of luring the D'Alessios out of hiding.

Nucky Thompson has his new driver, Owen Sleater, blow up the warehouse containing Jimmy's alcohol, and persuades Chalky to instigate a strike among the city's Black service workers, leaving the speakeasies and restaurants too understaffed to serve alcohol.

Jimmy is left with no product or customers, while Nucky Thompson becomes the most powerful bootlegger in Atlantic City.

Nucky Thompson gives Margaret temporary guardianship of a valuable piece of real estate so that she and the children will be taken care of should he go to prison.

Nucky Thompson tells her that he wants to marry her and become a better man, while admitting that marrying her would make her unable to take the stand against him.

Jimmy meets with Nucky Thompson to apologize for his treason, offering to help.

That night, Nucky Thompson calls Jimmy and tells him that he has kidnapped Manny Horvitz, the man who killed Jimmy's wife Angela.

Nucky Thompson's men hold him at gunpoint, and Nucky Thompson shoots him twice in the head, killing him.

When Eli is released from prison, Nucky Thompson gives him a job in a liquor warehouse, but wants nothing to do with him personally.

Nucky Thompson goes to Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon and convinces him to have George Remus arrested in exchange for Nucky Thompson illegally running Mellon's distillery in West Overton, Pennsylvania.

All three survive the explosion, but Billie is killed and Nucky Thompson is left with temporary tinnitus.

However, Luciano and Lansky alert Masseria to Nucky Thompson's attempted hit in exchange for Masseria financing their heroin operation.

From Margaret's grief-stricken reaction to Owen's death, Nucky Thompson deduces that the two had been having an affair.

The agreement is a trap, however; as part of his deal with Nucky Thompson, Mellon has Rothstein arrested.

Nucky Thompson tries to reconcile with Margaret, who has left him and taken the children.

In 1924, Nucky Thompson has made peace with Masseria and Rothstein, and is a silent partner in Chalky's nightclub on the Boardwalk.

Nucky Thompson takes on Luciano and Lansky as partners in the distillery.

When Nucky Thompson sends Eddie to New York Penn Station to deliver money to Ralph Capone, Tolliver detains and blackmails him into revealing Nucky Thompson's arrangement with the Capones.

Days later, Nucky Thompson has an uneasy reunion with Margaret and tells her of Eddie's death.

Meanwhile, Nucky Thompson gets Eli's son Willie off a murder charge by framing his college roommate and bribing the Philadelphia district attorney.

Eli becomes Tolliver's spy, and arranges for Nucky Thompson to attend a meeting with Masseria in which both will be arrested.

Chalky asks for Nucky Thompson's backing in a war with heroin kingpin Valentin Narcisse.

Nucky Thompson refuses to get involved, but Chalky becomes more insistent after Narcisse tries to kill him and brutalizes his mistress, Daughter Maitland.

Nucky Thompson learns that Lansky is smuggling Narcisse's heroin on Masseria's orders and meets with Masseria and Narcisse in order to get his cut of the profits.

Nucky Thompson begins to suspect that Eli is informing on him, and cancels the meeting with Masseria.

Nucky Thompson arranges to go with Sally to Cuba, but first confronts Eli.

Nucky Thompson pulls a gun on his brother, but after Willie walks in and Eli reveals Tolliver's blackmail, Nucky Thompson cannot bring himself to pull the trigger.

When Eli kills Tolliver, Nucky Thompson sends him to Chicago under Capone's protection and goes to Cuba with Sally.

Nucky Thompson goes back to Atlantic City, where he befriends a bellboy named Joe Harper, who reminds him of himself as a young man.

Nucky Thompson goes to meet with Maranzano, in hopes of joining forces with him against Luciano, but he ends up surviving another attempt on his life, this time backed by his old friend Torrio.

Nucky Thompson has Siegel kidnapped to force a meeting with Luciano and Lansky, who kidnap Willie in retaliation.

Desperate to save his nephew, Nucky Thompson gives Luciano control of his empire in Atlantic City and arranges to have Maranzano killed.

Nucky Thompson refuses to help Gillian get out of the sanatorium but offers to establish a trust fund for her should she get out on her own.

Hours later, Harper confronts Nucky Thompson and reveals who he truly is; Tommy Darmody, Jimmy Darmody's son and Gillian's grandson.

Tommy accuses Nucky Thompson of betraying Gillian and guns him down.

Nucky Thompson dies as IRS agents, who had followed him the entire evening, identify themselves and arrest Tommy.

In casting the role of Nucky Thompson, Winter wanted to stray from the real life of Johnson as much as possible.

Nucky Thompson was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Award at the 63rd and 64th Primetime Emmy Awards.