Ellsworth Raymond Johnson
American crime bossWikipedia
11
MENTIONS
10
EPISODES
10
PODCASTS
Search complete. 11 mentions across 10 episodes found for "Ellsworth Raymond Johnson".
Oct 16, 2026
Rob YeagerGUEST
I'll pay somebody to do it 'cause I can't do it." He just had that respect about him from doing that Alcatraz time.
Rob YeagerGUEST
He would tell stories about Bumpy Johnson at Alcatraz, and then everybody getting along.
Rob YeagerGUEST
And he loved this story about the Blacks and the whites.
Rob YeagerGUEST
The, the guards tried to, tried to separate them by making the whites use the Black clippers.
B-RealHOST
You know what I mean? Like, I mean, I, I, I felt, it, it's been, it's been out for some, for a couple years now.
B-RealHOST
They're on season two, going on season three I think, something like that, um, where he plays Bumpy Johnson.
C-MinusHOST
Mm-hmm.
B-RealHOST
And, uh, it's pretty good.
MalcolmHOST
You...
MalcolmHOST
And between a show and a movie, and then, um, the little parts that they try to add, uh, Ali into in other series like the, um, Bumpy Johnson joint, the Godfather of Harlem.
Black DotHOST
Yeah.
MalcolmHOST
Like, they always try to kinda throw him in, but I'm interested to see, like, the deeper dynamics, like between him and his pops, right?
Tim BenzHOST
He's in the Harlem Jam.
Mark MaddenHOST
He plays Bumpy Johnson.
Mark MaddenHOST
He's the lead character.
Mark MaddenHOST
But Vincent D'Onofrio, who's foolproof.
Royce WhiteHOST
But, you know, we need some more asshole in this fucking country, 'cause nothing seems to work the way it's supposed to work.
Royce WhiteHOST
Nobody's in charge, as Bumpy Johnson said in the beginning of "American Gangster." No- there's nobody in charge.
Royce WhiteHOST
Um, good morning.
Royce WhiteHOST
[laughs] Uh, Professor Penn is in the studio, but he's just sitting here like a-
Steve RiddleHOST
Number one, I wish they would have done more in...
Steve RiddleHOST
And talking about Frank's early days, you know, with him and Bumpy Johnson, who was the original, like, Harlem mob boss, who, you know, we see a little bit of it in the beginning.
Steve RiddleHOST
Like, we see Bumpy giving out turkeys on Thanksgiving, kind of showing that he's, you know, again, giving back to the community while at the same time, you know, using that as his front to kind of be this, you know, mob boss.
Steve RiddleHOST
Yeah.
James WilliamsGUEST
So you go in, you say, okay, Lord, I found out my great-grandfather Like my great uncle, I'll give you this personally.
James WilliamsGUEST
My great uncle was a hit man for Bumpy Johnson.
James WilliamsGUEST
So when I found that out, because the Lord kept on telling me, hey, you got murder in your bloodline.
James WilliamsGUEST
I don't know.
Gary SnowHOST
It's got an intriguing set of characters.
Gary SnowHOST
The story itself follows a gangster, Bumpy Johnson, who's played by Forrest Whitaker, who is released from Alcatraz after a 10-year prison sentence.
Gary SnowHOST
He's returning back to Harlem where he used to run things, him and his gang.
Gary SnowHOST
Now, while he's been away, he's lost territory to some Italian gangster and So the first season really is about him trying to get back what territory he had.
Gary SnowHOST
average? Oh, I think it goes up to about 10, 10 episodes per season.
Gary SnowHOST
But I haven't had a big look into it because I want to see how the story unfolds.
Gary SnowHOST
One thing was when I did Google the name of character Bumpy Johnson, it looks like this guy is probably a real life person.
David AxelHOST
Okay.
Nubius BlackHOST
Forrest Whitaker, this guy was in Ghost Dog and all these other great movies.
Nubius BlackHOST
What is he playing now in King of Harlem or something like that about Bumpy Johnson? Oh, yeah.
Nubius BlackHOST
He's brutal, man.
Nubius BlackHOST
Yeah, he's playing Bumpy.
DJ TraumaHOST
backwards from the positivity, right? But, like, Little Dirk's situation reminded me, like, when you talk about him giving back to the community, but what if he was actually doing the murder for hire shit? and then still giving back to the community.
DJ TraumaHOST
It reminds me of like, you know, Bumpy Johnson giving away turkeys and shit Thanksgiving, but then you're selling drugs and killing niggas, right? So it's like...
DJ TraumaHOST
Killing the nigga that killed my man is not killing niggas.
DJ TraumaHOST
Does one negate the other?