who was the movie american gangster based on
American Gangster (film) American Gangster is a 2007 American biographical crime film directed and produced by Ridley Scott and written by Steven Zaillian. The film is fictionally based on the criminal career of Frank Lucas, a gangster from La Grange, North Carolina who smuggled heroin into the United States on American service planes returning from the Vietnam War, before being detained by a task force led by detective Richie Roberts. The film stars Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington in their first lead acting roles together since 1995's Virtuosity. The film also co-stars Ted Levine, John Ortiz, Josh Brolin, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Norman Reedus, Ruby Dee, Lymari Nadal and Cuba Gooding Jr.
Lloyd Avery II Lloyd Avery II (June 21, 1969 – September 4, 2005) was an American actor. He was best known for his character in John Singleton's Oscar-nominated film Boyz n the Hood (1991), as the triggerman who murdered high school football star Ricky Baker and was later killed in retaliation.