Boardwalk Empire

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Boardwalk Empire

Boardwalk Empire

Michael Shannon, dressed in a brown suit and fedora, holds up a badge in a period setting from the television series Boardwalk Empire. Another man in similar attire stands behind him.

Boardwalk Empire

American television series

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July 23, 2026

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Boardwalk Empire — Boardwalk Empire Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson in the TV series Boardwalk Empire (2010–14).

The HBO series Boardwalk Empire (2010–14) dramatizes the rise of organized crime in Atlantic City during the Prohibition era. The show is loosely based on the life of Enoch "Nucky" Johnson, a political boss who controlled both government and organized crime in Atlantic City from 1913 to 1941.1

The series begins with the enactment of Prohibition in 1920, following Nucky Thompson (a fictionalized Johnson) as he works to keep liquor flowing. It depicts the era's bootlegging, corruption, and the rise of notorious gangsters like Al Capone and Lucky Luciano. The show explores the complex interplay between politics and crime, with Nucky Johnson's real-life story involving tax evasion charges that led to his imprisonment. The series concludes with the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, reflecting the changing landscape of organized crime.21

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Patricia Arquette
…Florida speakeasy in the series Boardwalk Empire. Arquette later starred in the short-lived CSI: Crime Scene Investigation spin-off CSI: Cyber (2015–16). She then portrayed a weary employee of a maximum-security prison who helps two inmates break out in the miniseries Escape at Dannemora (2018), which was based on true events.…
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…Florida speakeasy in the series Boardwalk Empire. Arquette later starred in the short-lived CSI: Crime Scene Investigation spin-off CSI: Cyber (2015–16). She then portrayed a weary employee of a maximum-security prison who helps two inmates break out in the miniseries Escape at Dannemora (2018), which was based on true events.…
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Behind the Scenes
9 Infamous Mobsters of the Real Boardwalk Empire
The acclaimed HBO series Boardwalk Empire began with the enactment of Prohibition in 1920 and followed the efforts of political boss Nucky Thompson (played by Steve Buscemi) to keep the liquor flowing through the Roaring Twenties. Prohibition ended in 1933, but how did the Boardwalk Empire characters end? Spoilers…
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The acclaimed HBO series Boardwalk Empire began with the enactment of Prohibition in 1920 and followed the efforts of political boss Nucky Thompson (played by Steve Buscemi) to keep the liquor flowing through the Roaring Twenties. Prohibition ended in 1933, but how did the Boardwalk Empire characters end? Spoilers…
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Steve Buscemi
TV credits: The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire
…time he also starred in Boardwalk Empire (2010–14), an HBO drama based on real-life gangsters in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during Prohibition; Martin Scorsese directed an episode and served as an executive producer. Buscemi portrayed Nucky Thompson, a character based on Nucky Johnson, a politician who also oversaw the city’s…
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…time he also starred in Boardwalk Empire (2010–14), an HBO drama based on real-life gangsters in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during Prohibition; Martin Scorsese directed an episode and served as an executive producer. Buscemi portrayed Nucky Thompson, a character based on Nucky Johnson, a politician who also oversaw the city’s…
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Ron Livingston
Band of Brothers, Sex and the City, and The Conjuring
…businessman in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire, which centers on real-life gangsters in Atlantic City during Prohibition. Two years later he appeared in the well-received The End of the Tour, about the novelist David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel) and his five-day interview with Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg)…
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…businessman in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire, which centers on real-life gangsters in Atlantic City during Prohibition. Two years later he appeared in the well-received The End of the Tour, about the novelist David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel) and his five-day interview with Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg)…
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Martin Scorsese
Films of the 2010s: Shutter Island, Hugo, and The Wolf of Wall Street
…as the executive producer of Boardwalk Empire (2010–14), an HBO drama series about gangsters in Atlantic City during Prohibition. He also directed the show’s first episode, for which he received an Emmy in 2011.
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…as the executive producer of Boardwalk Empire (2010–14), an HBO drama series about gangsters in Atlantic City during Prohibition. He also directed the show’s first episode, for which he received an Emmy in 2011.
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Michael Shannon
Breakthrough with Revolutionary Road and sundry bad guys
…acting in the TV series Boardwalk Empire (2010–14) as the tightly wound, hypocritical Nelson Van Alden, a Prohibition agent who becomes a henchman for gangster Al Capone (Stephen Graham).
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…acting in the TV series Boardwalk Empire (2010–14) as the tightly wound, hypocritical Nelson Van Alden, a Prohibition agent who becomes a henchman for gangster Al Capone (Stephen Graham).
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Mark Wahlberg
…and the acclaimed morality tale Boardwalk Empire (2010–14). He served as executive producer for both, and the former series was adapted for the big screen in 2015. He also appeared as himself in Wahlburgers (2014–19), a reality TV series centred on the hamburger restaurant business of Wahlberg’s brother Paul, and…
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…and the acclaimed morality tale Boardwalk Empire (2010–14). He served as executive producer for both, and the former series was adapted for the big screen in 2015. He also appeared as himself in Wahlburgers (2014–19), a reality TV series centred on the hamburger restaurant business of Wahlberg’s brother Paul, and…
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Jeffrey Wright
Roles from the 2010s
…fourth and fifth seasons of Boardwalk Empire (2013–14) and robot programmer Bernard Lowe in the sci-fi drama Westworld (2016–22), for which he earned three Emmy nominations. Between episodes, he appeared in three Hunger Games films (2013, 2014, and 2015). Wright then had a significant supporting role as Harvard law professor…
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…fourth and fifth seasons of Boardwalk Empire (2013–14) and robot programmer Bernard Lowe in the sci-fi drama Westworld (2016–22), for which he earned three Emmy nominations. Between episodes, he appeared in three Hunger Games films (2013, 2014, and 2015). Wright then had a significant supporting role as Harvard law professor…
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