Jimmy Darmody
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James Edison Darmody is a fictional character in the television show ''
Boardwalk Empire ''Boardwalk Empire'' is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter and broadcast on the premium cable channel HBO. The series is set chiefly in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era of the 1920 ...
'', played by
Michael Pitt Michael Carmen Pitt (born April 10, 1981) is an American actor, model, and musician. Pitt is known in film for his roles in '' Murder by Numbers'' (2002), Bernardo Bertolucci's '' The Dreamers'' (2003), Gus Van Sant's '' Last Days'' (2005), and M ...
. He is one of the main characters in the first two seasons of the series. Unlike most of the other main characters in the series, Jimmy is not based on a historical figure, even though he may be inspired by
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, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.
politician and Atlantic City political boss
Nucky Johnson Enoch Lewis "Nucky" Johnson (January 20, 1883December 9, 1968) was an Atlantic City, New Jersey, political boss, a sheriff of Atlantic County, New Jersey, a businessman and a crime boss who was the leader of the political machine that control ...
's protégé, James H. "Jimmy" Boyd. Pitt is also the only actor besides
Steve Buscemi Steven Vincent Buscemi ( ,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself, some may insist that his pronunciation of his own name is "wrong" because it does not match the original Italian pronunciation as well. It is not uncommon for people to pronou ...
to appear in every episode for which he is credited.


Fictional biography

Jimmy is the son of
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, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.
political boss Commodore Louis Kaestner (
Dabney Coleman Dabney Wharton Coleman (born January 3, 1932) is an American actor. Coleman's best known films include ''9 to 5'' (1980), '' On Golden Pond'' (1981), ''Tootsie'' (1982), '' WarGames'' (1983), '' Cloak & Dagger'' (1984), ''The Beverly Hillbillies ...
) and showgirl Gillian Darmody ( Gretchen Mol). His mother was only 13 at the time of his birth, while his father was 54. The Commodore's protégé, Enoch "Nucky" Thompson (
Steve Buscemi Steven Vincent Buscemi ( ,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself, some may insist that his pronunciation of his own name is "wrong" because it does not match the original Italian pronunciation as well. It is not uncommon for people to pronou ...
), arranged for the Commodore to have sex with Gillian, at the Commodore's request. Jimmy was raised by his mother with support from Nucky, who became a father figure to Jimmy; the Commodore, meanwhile, was indifferent to his son. Nucky eventually took over the Commodore's
political machine In the politics of representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership co ...
and set Jimmy up for great success when he grew up. Jimmy went to
Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
, where he met his future wife Angela ( Aleksa Palladino). He left school to fight in
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, leaving behind his pregnant girlfriend. In Season 2, it is revealed that he joined the Army because he felt guilty about a drunken sexual encounter with his mother, and because he likely faced expulsion from college after assaulting a professor who had made a pass at her. Jimmy was stationed in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
fighting on the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers * Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...
against Germany. His leg is wounded by
shrapnel Shrapnel may refer to: Military * Shrapnel shell, explosive artillery munitions, generally for anti-personnel use * Shrapnel (fragment), a hard loose material Popular culture * ''Shrapnel'' (Radical Comics) * ''Shrapnel'', a game by Adam C ...
from a German
grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade ge ...
, leaving him with a permanent limp.


Season one

In January 1920, Jimmy has recently moved back to Atlantic City after recovering from his war injury. He displays signs of
post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats o ...
from memories of the
trench warfare Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising Trench#Military engineering, military trenches, in which troops are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artille ...
he experienced, and refuses to go back to school. He ends up working for Nucky as his driver and bodyguard. Frustrated that he is not doing more, he hijacks a shipment of bootlegged liquor that Nucky sold to
Arnold Rothstein Arnold Rothstein (January 17, 1882 – November 4, 1928), nicknamed "The Brain", was an American racketeer, crime boss, businessman, and gambler in New York City. Rothstein was widely reputed to have organized corruption in professional athletic ...
( Michael Stuhlbarg) and shoots the deliverers. One of them survives and identifies Jimmy, but Nucky gets him out of trouble by blaming the hijacking on Hans Schroeder (
Joseph Sikora Joseph Sikora (born June 27, 1976) is an American actor best known for his starring role as Tommy Egan on the Starz series ''Power'' and its subsequent spin-offs and sequels, '' Power Book II: Ghost'' and '' Power Book IV: Force'', in which he ...
) and sending Jimmy to
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
. There, he works for
Johnny Torrio John Donato Torrio (born Donato Torrio, ; January 20, 1882 – April 16, 1957) was an Italian born-American mobster who helped build the Chicago Outfit in the 1920s later inherited by his protégé Al Capone. Torrio proposed a National Crime Sy ...
(
Greg Antonacci Gregory Gerald Antonacci (February 2, 1947 – September 20, 2017) was an American television actor, director, producer, and writer. He portrayed Johnny Torrio in ''Boardwalk Empire'' in every season, from 2010 to 2014, and as Phil Leotardo's r ...
) alongside
Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...
(
Stephen Graham Stephen Joseph Graham (born 3 August 1973) is a British actor. He is best known for playing Andrew "Combo" Gascoigne in the film '' This Is England'' (2006) and its television sequels ''This Is England '86'' (2010), '' This Is England '88'' ...
), with whom he committed the hijacking. When Nucky faces trouble back home from
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. Since ...
gangsters hired by Rothstein, he takes Jimmy back into his operation. Jimmy returns to Atlantic City with
Richard Harrow Richard Harrow is a fictional character on the television series ''Boardwalk Empire'', played by the actor Jack Huston. Fictional biography Backstory Richard was a sharpshooter in the US Army during World War I. He was badly disfigured during th ...
(
Jack Huston Jack Alexander Huston (born 7 December 1982) is a British actor. He appeared as Richard Harrow in the HBO television drama series ''Boardwalk Empire''. He also had a supporting role in the 2013 film ''American Hustle'', portrayed the eponymous ...
), a disfigured
marksman A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision shooting using projectile weapons (in modern days most commonly an accurized scoped long gun such as designated marksman rifle or a sniper rifle) to shoot at high-value targets at longer-than- ...
whom he met in a military hospital in Chicago. They become close friends, with Richard becoming Jimmy's main ally in bootlegging. Jimmy also orders Richard to kill a rival gangster who had disfigured Pearl, a prostitute Jimmy was fond of, who become addicted to laudanum as a result of the attack and ultimately committed suicide while in Jimmy's care. Jimmy reconciles with his father after the Commodore survives a poisoning attempt. Jimmy is deeply hurt when he finds out that it was Nucky who arranged for the rape of his mother by his father, and plots with his father and Nucky's brother Eli ( Shea Whigham) to take back control of Atlantic City from Nucky.


Season two

By the beginning of season two, Jimmy is married to Angela, with whom he raises their son, Tommy. The Commodore has the New Jersey District Attorney's office arrest Nucky for
election fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share of ...
and recruits Nucky's political allies. He and Jimmy then work on controlling the illegal alcohol being made and sold in Atlantic City. When the Commodore suffers a stroke, Jimmy takes over his operations. Jimmy is put in a difficult position when his partners in the bootlegging business — Capone,
Lucky Luciano Charles "Lucky" Luciano (, ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian-born gangster who operated mainly in the United States. Luciano started his criminal career in the Five Points gang and was instrumen ...
(
Vincent Piazza Vincent Piazza (born May 25, 1976) is an American film, television and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of gangster Lucky Luciano in the HBO television series ''Boardwalk Empire''. He has also played Earl Hefner in the comedy-dra ...
) and
Meyer Lansky Meyer Lansky (born Maier Suchowljansky; July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983), known as the "Mob's Accountant", was an American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the ...
(
Anatol Yusef Anatol Yusef is an English stage, film and television actor, writer, director. He is best known for his work at The Royal Shakespeare Company, for his portrayal of Meyer Lansky in the television series ''Boardwalk Empire'', and Channel 4's ''S ...
) — pressure him to kill Nucky. Though hesitant, Jimmy agrees to order Nucky's murder. Nucky is shot in the hand, but Clifford Lathorp kills the assailant before he can finish Nucky off. Jimmy is left wondering if he is doing the right thing. Jimmy enters a deal with
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. Since ...
gangster Manny Horvitz ( William Forsythe) to supply him alcohol. Jimmy is short on cash and demands a $5,000 advance. However, Nucky has Owen Sleater (
Charlie Cox Charlie Thomas Cox (born 15 December 1982) is an English actor. He is known for portraying Matt Murdock / Daredevil in several projects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise, including lead roles in the television series ''Daredevil'' (201 ...
), a former IRA assassin, blow up the warehouse where Jimmy's liquor is stored. Jimmy finds himself with no alcohol and thus no way to pay his debts. He ends up buying medicinal alcohol from
George Remus George Remus (November 13, 1878 – January 20, 1952) was a German-born American lawyer who was a bootlegger during the early days of Prohibition, and later murdered his wife Imogene. Early life Remus was born in Landsberg, Germany, in 18 ...
(
Glenn Fleshler Glenn Fleshler (born September 5, 1968) is an American actor. On television he is noted as a recurring cast member on ''Boardwalk Empire'' who portrayed real-life bootlegger George Remus, for appearing on '' Billions'', and as Errol Childress in ...
) and uses it to make whiskey. Nucky resigns as Treasurer of Atlantic County, and offers his surrender to Jimmy. However, this is all a part of Nucky's power-play. He has Chalky White ( Michael K. Williams), the leader of the black community in Atlantic City, to get all the black workers in the city to go on strike. The strike cripples the tourist economy that the city runs on. With help from Owen, Nucky then buys whiskey from Ireland and starts selling it in Atlantic City. Nucky's bootlegging operation flourishes, while Jimmy and his partners are left with an inferior product and nobody to sell it to. Meanwhile, Jimmy grows tired of Horvitz asking him to repay his debt and contacts Horvitz's rival
Waxey Gordon Waxey Gordon (born Irving Wexler; January 19, 1888 – June 24, 1952) was an American gangster who specialized in bootlegging and illegal gambling. An associate of Arnold Rothstein during prohibition, he was caught up in a power struggle foll ...
(
Nick Sandow Nick Sandow (born August 3, 1966) is an American actor, writer, producer and director, best known for his role as Joe Caputo in ''Orange Is the New Black''. Early life Of Italian descent, Sandow grew up in the Italian neighborhood of Van Nest ...
) to have him killed. A few days later, Waxey's henchman attempts to kill Horvitz in his shop, and manages to wound him, but Horvitz fights back and kills the assailant by sinking a meat cleaver into his head. Figuring out Jimmy is responsible from a matchbook in the dead man's pocket, Horvitz plots his revenge. Torturing Mickey for an address, Horvitz enters Jimmy's house, expecting to find him there. Since Jimmy is out of town, he instead finds Angela with her
lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
lover and kills them both. Jimmy is devastated, and dulls the pain with alcohol and
heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and bro ...
. He attacks his mother when she talks about Angela's death nonchalantly. When the Commodore comes to Gillian's defense, Jimmy kills his own father, partially at Gillian's urging. Jimmy tries to make amends with Nucky, and he and Harrow help him with his election fraud case by killing the main witness for the prosecution, Alderman Jim Neary (
Robert Clohessy Robert Clohessy (born June 10, 1957) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Correctional Officer Sean Murphy on the HBO prison drama '' Oz'' from seasons 3–6, in addition to playing Officer Patrick Flaherty on the NBC police pro ...
), and staging it to look like a suicide. After the case ends in a mistrial, Nucky calls Jimmy and tells him that he has kidnapped Horvitz. However, Jimmy knows that he is being lured to his death, and willingly goes unarmed to see Nucky. Jimmy tells Nucky that he truly died during the war, and even tries to talk him through the mechanics of shooting someone. Nucky shoots him twice in the head, killing him.


Season three

Sixteen months after Jimmy's death, Nucky has a nightmare where he shoots an adolescent Jimmy below the eye (the same place Nucky had actually shot him). By the beginning of season three, Gillian has not had Jimmy declared legally dead and runs the Commodore's mansion in Jimmy's absence. She turns the house into a high-class
brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub p ...
and raises Tommy as her own. She eventually kills a man who resembles Jimmy and uses his body in place of Jimmy's, giving her control of the Commodore's estate until Tommy is an adult.


Season four

In the season four finale, set two years after Jimmy's death, Gillian is put on trial for the murder of the man she claimed was her son in season three. Richard, trying to keep Tommy out of her custody, testifies against her. However, without a body, Gillian faces little chance of getting convicted. Richard then strikes a deal with Nucky to anonymously tip off where Jimmy was buried. Jimmy's corpse is dug up and Gillian is convicted of murder.


Ending

Series creator and showrunner
Terence Winter Terence Patrick Winter (born October 2, 1960) is an American writer and producer of television and film. He is the creator, writer, and executive producer of the HBO television series ''Boardwalk Empire'' (2010–14). Before creating ''Boardwal ...
said he always planned on killing off Jimmy, but did not think it would happen so soon in the series. Originally, Jimmy was supposed to survive after season two. The storyline was changed when
Dabney Coleman Dabney Wharton Coleman (born January 3, 1932) is an American actor. Coleman's best known films include ''9 to 5'' (1980), '' On Golden Pond'' (1981), ''Tootsie'' (1982), '' WarGames'' (1983), '' Cloak & Dagger'' (1984), ''The Beverly Hillbillies ...
, who played the Commodore, was being treated for cancer during filming. In order to accommodate Coleman's condition, the Commodore's screen time was reduced and Jimmy became the replacement leader of the rebellion against Nucky. The further they got in the writing process, the more the writers realized that Nucky killing Jimmy was the only logical conclusion to the story. Winter has said that the decision to kill off Jimmy was made at the beginning of Season 2. "The idea was to try and push things to their absolute limit, even if it makes it difficult for yourself and your writing team. If you take things to their logical extreme with the situation we created, Jimmy has betrayed Nucky, he tried to have him killed. You want to be honest about the storytelling. In the pilot, Jimmy told Nucky: "You can’t be half a gangster anymore." We wanted with the first two seasons to follow that trajectory, where he goes full season from being the guy who doesn't want to get his hands dirty to actually pulling the trigger himself. And what's the strongest version of that? To pull the trigger on the very guy who told him, “You can’t be half a gangster anymore." It's like, "Guess what? You’re right. I can’t. And here’s me now fully becoming a gangster.” Anything short of Nucky doing it himself wouldn't feel real, it wouldn't be real. And it would be a cheat for us to say, "We want to keep our beloved character Jimmy Darmody alive." Winter stated that his goal was to mislead the audience into thinking Jimmy and Nucky would reconcile and there would be a happy ending. "I wanted them to think right up to the very end that Nucky is going to forgive him and take him back. It was a really hard decision. You’re sort of blowing up your own show, in some ways. Now we’re back in the writers room trying to figure out where we go from here without Jimmy Darmody." In October 2011, Pitt's agent fired him, saying that he was "really difficult on set and otherwise." After the season two finale, rumors began circulating that Jimmy was killed off because Pitt was difficult to work with. Both Pitt and Winter have denied this.


Reception

Michael Pitt, along with the rest of the cast of ''Boardwalk Empire'', won the
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series The Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast (or Ensemble) in a Drama Series is an award given by the Screen Actors Guild to honor the finest ensemble acting achievements in drama series. Winners and nominees 1990s 20 ...
in 2010 and 2011. Pitt was also nominated for a
Monte-Carlo Television Festival The Monte-Carlo Television Festival is held every year in June in the Principality of Monaco at the Grimaldi Forum, under the Honorary Presidency of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco. The opening ceremony inaugurates each new edition, intro ...
Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series. Soon after the show's debut, the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' reported an increased demand for Jimmy's hairstyle — a trimmed buzz-cut short on the sides, left long on the top and swept back from the forehead — at barber shops in the United States.


Notes


External links


James "Jimmy" Darmody
at HBO.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Darmody, Jimmy Boardwalk Empire Fictional characters from New Jersey Television characters introduced in 2010 Fictional bodyguards Fictional gangsters Fictional characters involved in incest Fictional offspring of rape Fictional Irish American people Fictional patricides Fictional murdered people Fictional assassins Fictional World War I veterans Fictional murderers Drama television characters American male characters in television Fictional Princeton University students Fictional characters with post-traumatic stress disorder