''American Gangster'' is a documentary

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

, which airs on

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

. The show features some of black

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

's most infamous and powerful

gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

s and is narrated by

Ving Rhames Irving Rameses Rhames (born May 12, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his supporting roles as IMF Agent Luther Stickell in the ''Mission: Impossible'' film series and gang kingpin Marsellus Wallace in ''Pulp Fiction''. He also ap ...

. The series premiere, on November 28, 2006, amassed around one million viewers. The first season ended on January 9, 2007, and comprised 6 episodes; a season 1 DVD was released on October 23, 2007. The second season aired October 3, 2007; a season 2 DVD was released on June 10, 2008. In April 2009,

A&E Networks A&E Networks (stylized as A+E NETWORKS) is an American multinational broadcasting company that is a 50–50 joint venture between Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company through its General Entertainment Content division. The company o ...

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.

Gangsters featured in series

* Leroy "Nicky" Barnes -

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

heroin dealer and snitch *The Detroit Chambers Brothers - Detroit crack dealing gang *D.C. Snipers (aka

Beltway Snipers The D.C. sniper attacks (also known as the Beltway sniper attacks) were a series of coordinated shootings that occurred during three weeks in October 2002 throughout the Washington metropolitan area, consisting of the District of Columbia, Mary ...

John Allen Muhammad John Allen Muhammad (born Williams; December 31, 1960 – November 10, 2009) was an American convicted murderer from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He, along with his partner and accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo (aged 17), a native of Kingston, Jamaic ...

Lee Boyd Malvo Lee Boyd Malvo (born February 18, 1985), also known as John Lee Malvo, is a convicted murderer who, along with John Allen Muhammad, committed a series of murders dubbed the D.C. sniper attacks over a three-week period in October 2002. Malvo was a ...

) * Larry Davis -

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

suspect in seven murders, known for shootout with police and evading capture for 17 days. With over 2 million viewers tuning in, Season 3 Episode 1 "Larry Davis" was the highest rated episode in BET history. *

Mac Dre Andre Louis Hicks (July 5, 1970 – November 1, 2004), known by his stage name Mac Dre, was an American rapper from Vallejo, California. He was an instrumental figure in the emergence of hyphy The term hyphy ( ) is Oakland slang meaning "h ...

& The Romper Room Gang - rapper with ties to robbery gang *

Rayful Edmond Rayful Edmond III (born November 26, 1964) is an American former drug trafficker in Washington, D.C. in the 1980s. Edmond is largely responsible for having introduced crack cocaine into the Washington, D.C. area during the crack epidemic, result ...

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

crack dealer *

Guy Fisher Guy Thomas Fisher (born July 21, 1947) is an American convicted racketeer who was once part of " The Council", an African-American crime organization that controlled the heroin trade in Harlem from 1972 to 1983. He became the first black man to ...

- Harlem heroin dealer and former partner of Leroy "Nicky" Barnes *

Jeff Fort Jeff Fort (born February 20, 1947),

- co-founder of the Black P. Stones gang. Convicted in 1987 of conspiring with

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

to perform acts of

domestic terrorism Domestic terrorism or homegrown terrorism is a form of terrorism in which victims "within a country are targeted by a perpetrator with the same citizenship" as the victims.Gary M. Jackson, ''Predicting Malicious Behavior: Tools and Techniques ...

Larry Hoover Larry Hoover (born November 30, 1950)"Larry Hoover"
''Biography.com''. Retrieved 18 April 2019. ...

- leader of the

Gangster Disciples The Gangster Disciples are an African American street and prison gang, which was formed in the South Side of Chicago in the late 1960s, by Larry Hoover, leader of the Supreme Gangsters, and David Barksdale, leader of the Black Disciples. The tw ...

* Cornell Jones -

cocaine dealer * Luis Felipe - Founder of the Bloodline Latin Kings in New York. * Willie Lloyd - Leader of the

Vice Lords The Almighty Vice Lord Nation (Vice Lords for short, abbreviated AVLN) is the second-largest and one of the oldest street and prison gangs in Chicago, Illinois. Its total membership is estimated to be between 30,000 and 35,000. It is also one of ...

* Sean Lorenzo - OG

- Filmmaker/Rap Artist *

Frank Lucas Frank Lucas (September 9, 1930 – May 30, 2019) was an American drug trafficker who operated in Harlem, New York City, during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was known for cutting out middlemen in the drug trade and buying heroin directly ...

heroin dealer *

Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff (born September 19, 1960) is an American convicted former drug lord and gangster from New York City. Background McGriff rose to prominence in early 1981 when he formed his own crack cocaine distributing and manufacturing ...

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

drug dealer. Leader of The Supreme Team *

Felix Mitchell Felix Wayne Mitchell Jr. (August 23, 1954 – August 21, 1986) was a drug lord from Oakland, California, and leader of the "69 Mob" criminal organization, which operated throughout California and into the Midwest. He was known as "Felix the Cat" ...

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

drug dealer and leader of 69 Mob * Robert "Midget" Molley -

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

cocaine dealer * Lorenzo "Fat Cat" Nichols -

cocaine dealer * Philly Black Mafia -

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

-based organized crime syndicate * Ricky Ross - L.A. crack dealer * "Monster" Kody Scott - infamous member of Eight Tray Gangster Crips and author *

Shower Posse The Shower Posse is a Jamaican gang, started by Lester Lloyd Coke, which is involved with drug and arms smuggling. Its home is in Tivoli Gardens in Jamaica, but it primarily operates in the Canadian province of Ontario and the US states of New ...

- Jamaican posse involved with drug and arms smuggling in Jamaica, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania *The Smith Brothers -

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

jewellery store robbers *Chaz Williams - Queens bank robber * Melvin Williams - former

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

drug trafficker and actor *

Stanley "Tookie" Williams Stanley Tookie Williams III (December 29, 1953 – December 13, 2005) was an American gang member and spree killer who co-founded and led the Crips gang in Los Angeles. He and Raymond Washington formed an alliance in 1971 that established the ...

- Former leader of the

Crips The Crips is an alliance of street gangs that is based in the coastal regions of Southern California. Founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969, mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams, the Crips were initially a single alliance ...

Cast

Alex A. Alonso Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis_(given_name), Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambigu ...

... Himself (2 episodes, 2006, 2008) *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) *Sean Lorenzo ... Himself (1 episode 2006)

References

Bibliography

* Independent reviews of all three seasons (26 episodes).

External links

*
Season 1 biographies
- Streetgangs.com {{DEFAULTSORT:American Gangster 2006 American television series debuts 2000s American documentary television series Almighty Black P. Stone Nation BET original programming Black Mafia Crips Latin Kings (gang) Works about African-American organized crime pt:American Gangster