American Gangster (TV series)
Encyclopedia
American Gangster is a documentary
television series, which airs on BET
. The show features some of black America
's most infamous and powerful gangster
s. It is narrated by Ving Rhames
. The series premiered on November 28, 2006, with this episode amassing around one million viewers. The first season ended on January 9, 2007, and had 6 episodes. The second season aired October 3, 2007. A DVD of Season 1 was released on October 23, 2007. The second season was released on DVD on June 10, 2008. In April 2009, A&E Networks purchased the rights to air seasons 1–3 on their networks. They can be seen primarily on the Bio Channel and the flagship A&E
Channel. They can also be seen on A&E's Crime and Investigation Network
.
Rumors circulate around the next season that might document gangsters such as Butch Jones
& Young Boys Inc.
, Maserati Rick & Best Friend's Inc., Richard Porter, Alpo and Azie, which the Paid in Full
movie was based upon.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
television series, which airs on BET
Black Entertainment Television
Black Entertainment Television is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young Black-American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its...
. The show features some of black America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
's most infamous and powerful gangster
Gangster
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster....
s. It is narrated by Ving Rhames
Ving Rhames
Irving Rameses "Ving" Rhames is an American actor best known for his work in Bringing Out the Dead, Pulp Fiction, Baby Boy, Don King: Only in America, and the Mission: Impossible film series.-Early life and education:...
. The series premiered on November 28, 2006, with this episode amassing around one million viewers. The first season ended on January 9, 2007, and had 6 episodes. The second season aired October 3, 2007. A DVD of Season 1 was released on October 23, 2007. The second season was released on DVD on June 10, 2008. In April 2009, A&E Networks purchased the rights to air seasons 1–3 on their networks. They can be seen primarily on the Bio Channel and the flagship A&E
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
Channel. They can also be seen on A&E's Crime and Investigation Network
Crime and Investigation Network
Crime & Investigation Network is an Australian digital cable and satellite television channel which focuses on crime, investigation and mystery programming. It is run by Foxtel Management Pty Ltd and programming and name are licensed to them by A&E Television Networks.The channel shows a variety...
.
Rumors circulate around the next season that might document gangsters such as Butch Jones
Butch Jones
-External links:*...
& Young Boys Inc.
Young Boys Inc.
Young Boys Incorporated, also known as Y.B.I. was among the first African-American drug cartels that operated on street corners.They controlled 80% of the heroin traffic in Detroit, Michigan from the summer of 1978 through 1982....
, Maserati Rick & Best Friend's Inc., Richard Porter, Alpo and Azie, which the Paid in Full
Paid in Full (film)
Paid in Full is a 2002 American criminal drama film that was produced by Roc-A-Fella Films and directed by Charles Stone III. It takes place in Harlem just before the Crack Epidemic that hit during the 1980s. The title of the film is taken from the 1987 album by Eric B. and Rakim."Paid in Full" is...
movie was based upon.
Gangsters portrayed in series
- Stanley "Tookie" WilliamsStanley WilliamsStanley Tookie Williams III was the co-founder of the Crips, a notorious American street gang which had its roots in South Central Los Angeles in 1969. In 1979 he was convicted of four murders committed in the course of robberies, sentenced to death, and eventually executed...
- Former leader of the CripsCripsThe Crips are a primarily, but not exclusively, African American gang. They were founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969 mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams... - Ricky RossRicky Ross (drug trafficker)Ricky Donnell Ross , also known as "Freeway" Rick Ross, is a convicted drug trafficker best known for the "drug empire" that he presided over in Los Angeles, California, in the early-1980s...
- L.A. crackCrack cocaineCrack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers...
dealer - Lorenzo "Fat Cat" Nichols - QueensQueensQueens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
cocaine dealer - Leroy "Nicky" BarnesLeroy BarnesLeroy Nicholas "Nicky" Barnes is a government informant, former drug lord and crime boss, who led the notorious African-American criminal organization known as The Council, which controlled the heroin trade in Harlem, New York during the 1970s. In 2007 he released a book, “Mr...
- HarlemHarlemHarlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
heroin dealer - The Smith Brothers - San Francisco jewellery store robbers
- The Detroit Chambers BrothersChambers Brothers (gang)The Chambers Brothers were a criminal organization heavily involved in the distribution of crack cocaine in the city of Detroit, Michigan during the 1980s...
- Detroit crack dealing gang - Philly Black MafiaBlack MafiaThe Black Mafia, a Philadelphia-based organized crime syndicate whose small beginnings started from holding up crap games and dealing in the illegal drug business, was formed in September 1968 by Samuel Christian, who later adopted the name Suleiman Bey under the Nation of Islam, and was at its...
- Philadelphia-based organized crime syndicate - Larry HooverLarry HooverLarry Hoover was the leader of the Chicago street gang called Gangster Disciples.-Early life:...
- leader of the Gangster DisciplesGangster DisciplesThe Black Gangster Disciple Nation is a gang which was formed on the South-side of Chicago in the late 1960s, by David Barksdale, leader of the Black Disciples, and Larry Hoover, leader of the Supreme Gangsters. The two groups united to form the Black Gangster Disciple Nation .The gang has made... - Melvin WilliamsMelvin Williams (actor)Melvin D. Williams , known as Little Melvin, is a former drug trafficker and organized crime figure in his native Baltimore, Maryland. Williams is widely known for his involvement in heroin trafficking in Baltimore in the 1970s and 1980s...
- former BaltimoreBaltimoreBaltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
drug trafficker and actor - D.C. Snipers (aka Beltway Snipers/John Allen MuhammadJohn Allen MuhammadJohn Allen Muhammad was a spree killer from the United States. He, along with his younger partner, Lee Boyd Malvo, carried out the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks, killing at least 10 people. Muhammad and Malvo were arrested in connection with the attacks on October 24, 2002, following tips from alert...
/Lee Boyd MalvoLee Boyd MalvoLee Boyd Malvo , is a spree killer convicted, along with John Allen Muhammad, of murders in connection with the Beltway sniper attacks, which took place in the Washington Metropolitan Area over a three-week period in October 2002...
) - Frank LucasFrank Lucas (drug lord)Frank Lucas is a former U.S. heroin dealer and organized crime boss who operated in Harlem during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was particularly known for cutting out middlemen in the drug trade and buying heroin directly from his source in the Golden Triangle...
- HarlemHarlemHarlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
heroin dealer - Felix MitchellFelix MitchellFelix Wayne Mitchell Jr. was a convicted drug lord from Oakland, California and leader of the notorious "69 Mob" criminal organization, which operated throughout California and into the midwest...
- Oakland drug dealer and leader of 69 Mob - Jeff FortJeff FortJeff Fort is a former Chicago gang leader, co-founder of the Black P. Stones gang, and founder of its El Rukn faction. He was convicted in 1987 of conspiring with Libya to perform acts of domestic terrorism.- Biography :...
- co-founder of the Black P. StonesBlack P. StonesThe Almighty Black P. Stone Nation is a Chicago-based street gang estimated to have more than 30,000 members. The gang was originally formed in the late 1950s as a civil rights organization called the Blackstone Rangers...
gang. Convicted in 1987 of conspiring with LibyaLibyaLibya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
to perform acts of domestic terrorism - Chaz Williams - Queens bank robber
- Rayful EdmondRayful EdmondRayful Edmond III , was a notorious drug dealer who is largely credited with introducing crack cocaine into the Washington, D.C. area...
- Washington D.C. crack dealer - Kenneth "Supreme" McGriffKenneth McGriffKenneth "Supreme" McGriff is a convicted American drug trafficker and organized crime figure.McGriff came to prominence in the early 1980s when he formed his own crack distributing organization which he called the Supreme Team based in the South Jamaica section of Queens, New York...
- QueensQueensQueens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
drug dealer. Leader of the The Supreme Team - Larry DavisLarry Davis (criminal)Larry Davis , who changed his name to Adam Abdul-Hakeem in 1989, was a New Yorker who shot six New York City police officers on November 19, 1986 when they raided his sister's Bronx apartment. The police said that the raid was executed in order to question Davis about the killing of four suspected...
- New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
suspect in seven murders, known for shootout with police and evading capture for 17 days. - "Monster" Kody ScottSanyika ShakurSanyika Shakur , also known by his former street moniker Monster, is a former member of the Los Angeles gang the Eight Tray Gangster Crips. He got his nickname as a 13-year-old gang member when he beat and stomped a robbery victim to death...
- infamous member of Eight Tray Gangster Crips and author - Cornell Jones - Washington D.C. cocaine dealer
- Robert "Midget" MolleyHakeem Abdul-ShaheedHakeem Abdul-Shaheed, aka Midget Molley, born Robert Edward Molley on March 4, 1959, is an American convicted drug dealer and organized crime leader. Robert Molley acquired the nickname 'Midget' from his family, in reference to his short stature...
- Atlantic City cocaine dealer - Mac DreMac DreAndre Hicks , better known by his stage name Mac Dre, was an American rapper.-Biography:Andre Hicks was born in Oakland, California but moved to Vallejo while still a child...
& The Romper Room Gang - rapper with ties to robbery gang - Shower PosseShower PosseThe Shower Posse is a Jamaican posse which is involved with drug and arms smuggling. Its home is in Tivoli Gardens in Jamaica, but it primarily operates in New York, New Jersey, Florida, and Pennsylvania, where it is one of the most powerful posses. There are differing reports on the origin of the...
- Jamaican posse involved with drug and arms smuggling in Jamaica, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania - Mutulu ShakurMutulu ShakurMutulu Shakur , is a former proponent of the Republic of New Afrika and a close friend of Geronimo Pratt....
- best known for planning the infamous $1.6 million robbery of a Brinks armored truck in New York. Stepfather of Tupac ShakurTupac ShakurTupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world...
, father of Mopreem - Guy FisherGuy FisherGuy Thomas Fisher is a convicted racketeer who was once part of The Council, a notorious African-American crime organization that controlled the heroin trade in Harlem from 1972-1983. He became the first black man to own and operate the Apollo Theater in Harlem when he purchased it in 1977...
- Harlem heroin dealer and former partner of Leroy "Nicky" BarnesLeroy BarnesLeroy Nicholas "Nicky" Barnes is a government informant, former drug lord and crime boss, who led the notorious African-American criminal organization known as The Council, which controlled the heroin trade in Harlem, New York during the 1970s. In 2007 he released a book, “Mr... - Willie Lloyd - Leader of the Vice LordsVice LordsThe Almighty Vice Lord Nation is the second largest and one of the oldest street gangs in Chicago. Their total membership is estimated to be as many as 30,000...
- Robby "Mojoe"
- Tone E$co
Cast
- Alex Alonso ... Himself (1 episode, 2006)
- Chico Brown ... Himself (1 episode, 2006)
- Antoine Clark ... Himself (1 episode, 2006)
- Bernard Parks ... Himself (1 episode, 2006)
- Charles Pitchford ... Himself (1 episode, 2006)
- Fred Shaw Jr. ... Himself (1 episode, 2006)
- Maxine Waters ... Herself (1 episode, 2006)
- John W. King ... Himself (1 episode, 2007)
External links
- Season 1 biographies - Streetgangs.com
- "BET's American Gangster: Complete Three Seasons Unauthorized Reviews" by Alan Kurtz