AS (ALMOST) SEEN ON TV: NUCKY JOHNSON AKA NUCKY THOMPSON

Today's the day that the eagerly awaited new HBO series 'Boardwalk Empire' debuts. A collaboration between Terence Winter and Martin Scorcese, the series about life in Atlantic City during Prohibition stars Steve Buscemi as a fictionalized version of Nucky Johnson. (Buscemi's character is named Nucky Thompson.)

NUCKY THOMPSON
(based on Nucky Johnson)

AS SEEN IN:
'Boardwalk Empire'

AS PLAYED BY:
Steve Buscemi

From Wikipedia:
Enoch Lewis "Nucky" Johnson (January 20, 1883 – December 9, 1968) was an Atlantic City, New Jersey political boss and racketeer. From 1911 until his imprisonment in 1941, he was the undisputed “boss” of the Republican political machine that controlled Atlantic City and the Atlantic County government. His rule encompassed the Roaring Twenties, when Atlantic City was at the height of its popularity. The organization he led was also involved in bootlegging during Prohibition, gambling and prostitution, and he derived substantial income from those activities.

Premiering September 19, 2010, a new HBO series entitled, "Boardwalk Empire" will fictionalize the life and times of "Nucky" Johnson, along with other players, at the start of the Prohibition era in Atlantic City, NJ. The series is being produced by Martin Scorsese and stars Steve Buscemi as "Nucky Thompson". Johnson's surname is fictionalized as "Thompson" by the series.

I don't know why they felt it necessary to change his name - objections from surviving family members, perhaps? They certainly had no problem in portraying real-life figures Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Arnold Rothstein, and Meyer Lansky, as well as a couple of Jersey politicos of the time.....

BCnU!