Chalky White’s World

Boardwalk Empire character Chalky White (real name: Albert) first appeared in the premier episode of Boardwalk Empire, Season 1, “Boardwalk Empire”

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Chalky is portrayed by actor, Michael Kenneth Williams, also known for his roles in:
Community (2011)
Addicts (2009)
The Wire (2002-2008)

Chalky White is a racketeer and the unofficial leader of the black community in Atlantic City. According to one member of that community in “What Does the Bee Do,” Chalky takes a bite off everyone’s plate and all he gives back is “a summer clam bake and a Christmas turkey.”

Family:
Wife: Lenore (Natalie Wachen)
Son: Lester (Justiin A. Davis)
Daughter: Maybelle (Christina Jackson)
Daughter: Adeline (Skai Jackson)

Known to Associate with:
Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi)
Eli Thompson (Shea Wigham)
Deacon Cuffy (Franklin Ojeda Smith)
Dunn Purnsley (Erick LaRay Harvey)

In the premiere of Boardwalk Empire, Chalky waits for a meeting outside Atlantic County Treasurer Nucky Thompson’s suite at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. Nucky is too busy to see Chalky. In the second episode, “The Ivory Tower,” Nucky Thompson visits bootlegger Mickey Kuzik in jail. Nucky says he will be doing business with Chalky White from now on because the Feds are on to Mickey.

Inside a livery stable, in Broadway Limited, Nucky delivers 500 bottles of Canadian Club whiskey to Chalky who will cut it with water and turn it into 3000 bottles. They discuss the profit split. Nucky wants it to be 80/20, but Chalky prefers 60/40. They agree on 65/35.

One of Chalky’s worker is murdered by hanging. The culprit also etched the words “Liquor Kills” into the paint of his Model-T. Nucky and Eli visit Chalky, advising against retaliation in an election year. Nucky makes up a story about the man being found cheating with another man’s wife. Chalky angrily agrees but demands a 50/50 split now.

Chalky Quotes: “That’s a whole lotta magic for 20 percent.”

After his own torture tactics fail, in Anastasia,  Eli Thompson brings Chalky in to help extract info from the Grand Cyclops of the Atlantic County Branch of the Ku Klux Klan. Chalky uses his father’s carpenter tools to persuade Dinler to talk. Chalky assures Eli the Klan was not involved in the murder and Dinler doesn’t know anything. He shows Eli Dinler’s severed finger with the Klan ring still on it to prove it.

Chalky Quotes: “Well, I ain’t gonna be buildin’ no bookcase.”
“There’s a point… if a man still sticks to his story,
that’s a man that’s telling you the truth.”

In The Emerald City, Chalky finds out who was responsible for his driver’s murder when the D’Alessio brothers and Meyer Lansky try to arrange a business deal with him. One of the D’Alessio brothers gives it away when he evinces knowledge of the type of car Chalky drives.

Nucky and Jimmy arrive at Chalky’s warehouse. Meyer Lansky, Lucien D’Alessio and Matteo D’Alessio are tied up. After Lucien mouths off, Jimmy kills him. Matteo vows revenge and Chalky strangles him to death with his bare hands.

Chalky Quotes: “How you know I drive a Packard?”

Chalky gets insulted at a meeting in Nucky’s office in Return to Normalcy, when Ward Boss Fleming mentions that spooks will be voting in the election. Fleming means dead people. Chalky tells Nucky he wants money, a new car and an invite to the election party in return for delivering 100% of the colored vote.

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Chalky’s bootlegging operation is attacked by the Ku Klux Klan in 21. Four of Chalky’s people are killed and half a dozen others wounded. Chalky manages to shoot a Klansman himself. Nucky and Eli visit Chalky at home. Chalky’s son plays piano until his mother, Lenore, signals for them to leave. Nucky impresses the seriousness of the problem of his killing a white man on Chalky. When the man Chalky shot dies, Nucky has Chalky jailed for his own protection.

Chalky Quotes ” … You gonna school these crackers, lest you all find out.”

Ourselves Alone – Chalky is visited in jail by his wife, Lenore, who brings him Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield to read. Dunn Purnsley picks a fight with Chalky that he loses without Chalky lifting a finger personally.

Chalky meets with Nucky Thompson and his associates at the Ritz Carlton in The Age of Reason as plans are made for the arrival and delivery of liquor shipments.

Two Boats and a Lifeguard – Nucky and Chalky White discuss a worker strike by the black community in the middle of tourist season. Nucky informs Chalky that he has stepped down as Treasurer and it won’t be his problem if it goes off.

Battle of the Century – Dunn Purnsley is working in the Ritz Carlton kitchen, agitating the workers about the food and their pay. He later meets with Chalky to let him know the workers are primed for a strike. Chalky gives the go ahead. The next day, Dunn pulls off the kitchen rebellion.

In To The Lost, James Darmody delivers both money and Klansmen to Chalky and asks him to deliver a message to Nucky Thompson.