Markuann Smith has always loved watching movies. Growing up in Far Rockaway and Harlem, Smith would often find himself watching classics such as “Casablanca,” “Rebel Without a Cause” and “Raging Bull.”
“It kind of really was my solace to save me. I grew up in an inner city community, which was nothing but New York housing projects around me on this little inlet. So watching movies, it really saved me from everything else that was happening outside,” said Smith.
Smith knew early on that being in the entertainment industry was his destiny. He started off in music, touring with his brother, rapper Father M.C. However, despite the work he was doing, his brother knew that Smith was headed for bigger things.
“My brother ‘fired’ me. He was firing me because he was like, ‘I’ve seen you meet a lot of contacts. You know a lot of people, it’s time for you to elevate and be on your own,” said Smith.
After graduating from Morgan State University, Smith started his production career on BET, and also started an on-screen career, appearing as a presenter on VH1’s “Let’s Talk About Pep,” as well as “The Dave Chapelle Show,” “Juice,” and “Poetic Justice,” to name a few. But the urge was still there to create something of his own.
As a child, Smith often found himself hanging out with his godmother, Margaret Johnson. She would tell him stories about her grandfather, Elleworth “Bumpy” Johnson, an infamous crime boss in Harlem.
Smith decided he wanted to tell Bumpy’s story. The result was “Godfather of Harlem,” an Emmy-winning drama about Bumpy’s life that picks up in the 1960s after he spent ten years in prison.
“He was the first African American underboss to sit down with the five families. They used him as a conduit to bring in dope into Central Harlem. I made a promise to [my godmother] almost 21 years ago that I would tell the real story of who her grandfather, Ellsworth Raymond ‘Bumpy’ Johnson, was,” said Smith. “He wasn’t just a gangster. He read Shakespeare, he read Nietzsche. The warden of Alcatraz said he had the highest IQ he ever saw for a person of color. I wanted to be able to grant her wish and be able to show the world a different spectrum of my POV of who Bumpy Johnson was.”
To help get the story right, Smith brought in Professor James Small to help nail down the history of that time period so the show could be historically accurate. Once all was said and done, Smith had a hard time trying to get “Godfather of Harlem” sold and was rejected by three networks.
Despite the rejections, the chips started to fall into place for “Godfather of Harlem.” Chris Brancato and Paul Eckstein signed on as creators/writers for the show, and actor Forest Whitaker signed on not only as a producer but also to portray Bumpy Johnson. The show was eventually picked up by MGM.
The current cast includes Whitaker, Jason Alan Carvell as Malcolm X, Ilfenesh Hadera as Bumpy’s wife Mayme Thatcher Johnson, Smith as Junie Byrd, Demi Singleton as Margaret Johnson, to name a few. For Smith, he never envisioned that the show would be unsuccessful; it just needed to get into the right hands.
“I never had a plan B. I always believed that if you have a plan B, you’re planning for your plan A to fail. Success is a strong word. Everybody wants success, but are you ready to eat tuna fish sandwiches? Are you ready to sleep on somebody’s floor because you can’t afford a hotel for the night?” said Smith. “We’re an urban show and we’re a period piece, so that all worked against us. But it took someone who really believed in us — Michael Wright, who’s now the president of MGM — who said, you know what, this story needs to be told.”
“Godfather of Harlem” is currently in its fourth season and has been received positively by viewers and critics alike. The current timeline puts the show in 1966. Though the storyline will eventually close in on Bumpy’s death, which occurred in 1968, Smith says there’s still so much more of his story to tell.
“We have plenty of time to play with history and create some great stories,” said Smith. “There is still plenty of storytelling that is left to happen.”
“Godfather of Harlem” airs on MGM+ on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET. You can follow Smith on Instagram @markuann.
