The epic period drama Godfather of Harlem follows the life and times of late crime boss Bumpy Johnson (Forest Whitaker). It documents the life of Bumpy as h attempts to save Harlem from the Mafia in the 1960s.
Harlem follows an unnatural alliance with the radical preacher of the times Malcolm X (Nigél Thatch) and Johnson starts a mob war against the Genovese crime family. Godfather of Harlem has been made into a 10-episode series that looks to tell the story of Bumpy’s reign. Ellsworth Raymond Johnson was the most atrocious crime leader in Harlem between 1930 and 1968.
D’Onofrio (“Daredevil”) plays Bumpys rival in the media. He is the leader of the Italian-fronted Maffia. Lucy Fry plays Stella, as the daughter of mob boss Chin. Ilfenesh Hadera plays Mayme Johnson, she plays Bumpy’s wife in the movie, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy plays Elise – she attempts to detox the Harlem, Nigél Thatch plays Malcolm X, Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Teddy – an aspiring Jazz artist.
The gangster epic comes out September 29 on Epix and for the same creators Chris Brancato and Paul Eckstein (Narcos) team up with executive producer and star Forest Whitaker for Godfather of Harlem. The series will be inaugurated with the theme of “Just in Case”.