Peaky Blinders on Netflix: Season 6’s big villain explained – this is the real Jack Nelson

• Gangster boss Jack Nelson makes life difficult for Tommy Shelby in the new “Peaky Blinders” episodes.
• Nelson is not a historical figure, but rather an amalgamation of people from contemporary history.
• Especially the gangster is based on the father of John F. Kennedy.

The 6th and final season of Peaky Blinders introduces a new crime boss and nemesis in Jack Nelson. It’s already clear that the Nazi sympathizer and friend of the President will make life hardest for Tommy Shelby in the upcoming Peaky Blinders film, opposite Oswald Mosley.

Because Nelson is dangerous in many different ways: Gina Gray’s uncle has close ties to the fascists and, as already mentioned, is acquainted with President Roosevelt and also with the mafia. On the one hand he wants the Shelby’s help with an opium deal, but on the other hand he wants Arthur dead.

Peaky Blinders Season 6: These historical figures are behind Jack Nelson

Jack Nelson from Season 6 of Peaky Blinders is now based not on a single historical figure. Rather, the authors of the historical drama series mix up different personalities from history.

One is Frank Wallace, an Irish-American gangster active in Boston in the 1920s and 1930s. Nelson also mentions the Italian Mafia as a threat to his family and person in Peaky Blinders – and the historical Frank Wallace was actually murdered by the Italian-American Mafia in 1931.

In addition to Wallace, however, the “Peaky Blinders” character Jack Nelson is based on a politician, and not a gangster: Joseph Kennedy Sr., the father of the later US President John F. Kennedy.

Kennedy Senior was a dazzling figure in early 20th-century America. He is said to have initially become rich through alcohol smuggling. Joseph Kennedy Sr. later worked in the banking and real estate sector – and is said to have earned enormous sums on Wall Street through insider trading (which was still tolerated at the time).

He got to know the later US President Franklin D. Roosevelt at an early age and served in his administration during the 1930s. Kennedy Sr. also made a lot of money in Hollywood.

By merging Frank Wallace and Joseph Kennedy Sr. to form Jack Nelson, the “Peaky Blinders” authors have now created a gangster type who, as it were, doesn’t get his hands dirty as much and is more active in white-collar crime. Also, the character gives the Peaky Blinders series a more global flavor as the United States gets more involved.

Last but not least, the real Joseph Kennedy Sr. was also an anti-Semite, as numerous historical statements show. In the character Frank Nelson there is therefore a connection to the British fascist Oswald Mosley, who faces Tommy Shelby and the Jewish gangster Alfie Solomons played by Tom Hardy.

As already mentioned at the beginning, this conflict should then become central for the upcoming “Peaky Blinders” film.

Source: Screenrant.