Anthony "Fat Tony" D'Amico is the name of two recurring characters in the animated sitcom ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, ...

''. Both are voiced by

Joe Mantegna Joseph Anthony Mantegna (, ; born November 13, 1947) is an American actor. Mantegna began his career on stage in 1969 in the Chicago production of the musical ''Hair''. He earned a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a Joseph Jeff ...

and first appeared in the episode "

Bart the Murderer "Bart the Murderer" is the fourth episode of the third season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 10, 1991. In the episode, Bart stumbles upon a Mafia ...

" of the third season.Jean, Al (2003). Commentary for "

", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season'' VD 20th Century Fox. Fat Tony is a

mobster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

and the

underboss Underboss ( it, sottocapo) is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian, Greek, and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss. The under ...

of the

Springfield Mafia Along with the Simpson family, ''The Simpsons'' includes a large array of characters: co-workers, teachers, family friends, extended relatives, townspeople, local celebrities, as well as fictional characters within the show. The creators original ...

. His henchmen include Legs, Louie, and Johnny Tightlips, and he answers to Don Vittorio DiMaggio. Upon the death of the original Fat Tony in the episode "

Donnie Fatso "Donnie Fatso" is the ninth episode in the twenty-second season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 12, 2010. The plot revolves around an FBI agent, who he ...

" of the twenty-second season, the character's near-identical cousin of the same name is introduced. The characters somewhat resemble real-life mobster Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno.

Profile

First Fat Tony

Marion Anthony "Fat Tony" D'Amico was behind several of Springfield's criminal enterprises. His

rackets Racket may refer to: * Racket (crime), a systematised element of organized crime ** Protection racket, a scheme whereby a group provides protection to businesses or other groups through violence outside the sanction of the law * Racket (sports equ ...

included

illegal gambling Gaming law is the set of rules and regulations that apply to the gaming or gambling industry. Gaming law is not a branch of law in the traditional sense but rather is a collection of several areas of law that include criminal law, regulatory law, ...

cigarette smuggling The illicit cigarette trade is defined as “the production, import, export, purchase, sale, or possession of tobacco goods which fail to comply with legislation” (FATF 2012). Illicit cigarette trade activities fall under 3 categories: # Con ...

, bootlegging,

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compen ...

and selling fake IDs. In "

The Twisted World of Marge Simpson "The Twisted World of Marge Simpson" is the eleventh episode of the eighth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 19, 1997. It was written by Jen ...

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

contracts with the mafia to drive out

Marge Marge is a feminine given name, a shortened form of Marjorie, Margot or Margaret. Notable Marges include: People * Marge (cartoonist) (1904–1993), pen name of Marjorie Henderson Buell, American cartoonist * Marge Anderson (1932–2013), Ojibwe ...

's rival snack food distributors. Fat Tony took out a hit on Mayor Quimby in "

Mayored to the Mob "Mayored to the Mob" is the ninth episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 20, 1998. After Homer prevents Mayor Quimby and ...

" in retaliation for a raid on their rat milk facility, which Quimby opposed, as they had promised him "dog or higher". Fat Tony puts out a contract on Homer after his private security business interferes with the mob's interests in " Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge". Homer would have been executed gangland-style if not for Maggie coming to the rescue with her rifle. Fat Tony's son Michael is first mentioned by Fat Tony as he is talking to Marge in "

The Seven-Beer Snitch "The Seven-Beer Snitch" is the fourteenth episode of the sixteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 3, 2005. Plot The Simpsons go to Shelbyville ...

", saying she drove him home from school sometimes. He is then properly introduced in the episode "

The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer" is the first episode of the eighteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 10, 2006. In the episode, ...

". The episode also reveals that Fat Tony's wife "was whacked by 'natural causes'." Fat Tony and his associates meet in what is known as the "Legitimate Businessman's Social Club". Fat Tony played the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

in "

Insane Clown Poppy "Insane Clown Poppy" is the third episode of the twelfth season of the American television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 12, 2000. In the episode, during an outdoor book fair, Kru ...

". Fat Tony dies in the twenty-second season episode "

" from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

with his final words to Homer being "I loved you man."

Second Fat Tony

When the original Fat Tony died of a heart attack in "Donnie Fatso", he was replaced by his slimmer cousin Anthony Paul "Fit Tony" D'Amico. By the end of that episode, Fit Tony has taken to eating as a way of dealing with the stress of assassination attempts. His weight gain causes a change of nickname to "Fit-Fat Tony" and eventually "Fat Tony", essentially restoring the original character. In "

The Real Housewives of Fat Tony "The Real Housewives of Fat Tony" is the nineteenth episode of the twenty-second season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 1, 2011. This episode ma ...

", he supposedly marries

Selma Selma may refer to: Places *Selma, Algeria *Selma, Nova Scotia, Canada *Selma, Switzerland, village in the Grisons United States: *Selma, Alabama, city in Dallas County, best known for the Selma to Montgomery marches *Selma, Arkansas *Selma, Cali ...

, but the relationship falls apart when Selma discovers Tony only held a ceremony to make her his goomar as he is already married to another woman. This iteration of Tony, although similar in character does have notable differences in appearances. He has lighter skin than the original Fat Tony, has a darker shade of hair & wears a red polo shirt as opposed to a teal polo shirt worn originally.

Name

The original Fat Tony's actual name is the source of some dispute, as several different real names have been revealed over the course of the series. In the third-season episode "

", Fat Tony is referred to in a news report given by

Kent Brockman Kent Brockman is a fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Harry Shearer and first appeared in the episode " Krusty Gets Busted". He is a grumpy, self-centered local Springfield news anchor. Prof ...

as William "Fat Tony" Williams, presumably an alias. In the eighth-season episode "

The Homer They Fall "The Homer They Fall" is the third episode of the eighth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 10, 1996. After Homer realizes he has a bizarre ...

", the announcer at Homer's boxing match against

Drederick Tatum The American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' contains a wide range of minor and supporting characters like co-workers, teachers, students, family friends, extended relatives, townspeople, local celebrities, and even animals. The write ...

refers to Fat Tony as Anthony D'Amico (incidentally the name of one of the three Re-Recording Mixers in the end credits), which he is called later as well, for example, by the FBI. In the twelfth-season episode "Insane Clown Poppy", Frankie the Squealer claims that Fat Tony's first name is Marion, a reference to actor

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Go ...

's real name, Marion Robert Morrison.

Character

Development

Fat Tony first appeared in the third season episode "Bart the Murderer". The writers conceived the episode before the film ''

Goodfellas ''Goodfellas'' (stylized ''GoodFellas'') is a 1990 American biographical crime film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Nicholas Pileggi and Scorsese, and produced by Irwin Winkler. It is a film adaptation of the 1985 nonfiction book '' W ...

'', which has a similar plot, was released. However, when it was, the writers incorporated references to the film in the episode. Fat Tony was modeled on

Paul Sorvino Paul Anthony Sorvino (, ; April 13, 1939 – July 25, 2022) was an American actor. He often portrayed authority figures on both the criminal and the law enforcement sides of the law. Sorvino was particularly known for his roles as Lucchese cri ...

, who played mobster Paul Cicero in ''Goodfellas''. The appearance of Louie, one of Tony's henchmen, was based on another ''Goodfellas'' actor,

Frank Sivero Frank Sivero (born Francesco Lo Giudice; January 6, 1952) is an Italian-American actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the roles of Genco Abbandando in Francis Ford Coppola's '' The Godfather Part II,'' and Frankie Carbone (based on Angelo ...

. The end of the episode portrays a TV movie about the events depicted in the episode, in which Joe Mantegna will play Fat Tony (this was before it was decided that Fat Tony would be a recurring character). In the episode "Donnie Fatso", Fat Tony dies of a heart attack; his cousin Fit Tony takes his place as head of the syndicate, but soon becomes known as Fat Tony due to stress-induced overeating.

Voice

The writers originally wanted

Sheldon Leonard Sheldon Leonard Bershad (February 22, 1907 – January 11, 1997) was an American film and television actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. Early life Sheldon Leonard Bershad was born in Manhattan, New York City, the son of middle-cla ...

to voice Fat Tony. When they were unable to get him, they cast

. It is his longest-running role. Mantegna said, "You feel honored that they asked you to do a voice. The fact that they bring you back and keep writing for the character, it is very satisfying." Mantegna based his raspy voice for Fat Tony on his Uncle Willy, a long-standing cigarette smoker. He insists that the producers must "not let anyone else do his noises," even going so far as to say, "If Fat Tony sneezes, I want to be there." This is referenced in the season 20 episode " Sex, Pies, and Idiot Scrapes, where the script required only grunting. Despite this,

Phil Hartman Philip Edward Hartman (; September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter and graphic designer. Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and his family moved to the United States w ...

voiced the character in the season 7 episode " A Fish Called Selma". Mantegna voiced Fat Tony in a scene in ''

The Simpsons Movie ''The Simpsons Movie'' is a 2007 American Animation, animated comedy film based on the long-running animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. The film was directed by the show's supervising director David Silverman (animator), David Silverman and star ...

'' that almost got cut. Of the Fat Tony episodes, Mantegna favors "Bart the Murderer" and "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer", because they are the character's first appearance and a season premiere.

Reception

IGN ranked Fat Tony at No. 18 on their 2006 list of the "Top 25 ''Simpsons'' Peripheral Characters". Star News Online listed Joe Mantegna as one of the 400 reasons why they love ''The Simpsons''. In 2007, Adam Finley of

TV Squad Weblogs, Inc. was a blog network that published content on a variety of subjects, including tech news, video games, automobiles and pop culture. At one point, the network had as many as 90 blogs, although the vast majority of its traffic could be ...

called Mantegna one of the five best ''The Simpsons'' guest stars and ''

Vanity Fair Vanity Fair may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Literature * Vanity Fair, a location in '' The Pilgrim's Progress'' (1678), by John Bunyan * ''Vanity Fair'' (novel), 1848, by William Makepeace Thackeray * ''Vanity Fair'' (magazines), the ...

'' called "Bart the Murderer" the eighth best episode of the show, saying, "This episode makes the cut because of the inspired Mafia satire". Playmates Toys made Fat Tony into an

action figure An action figure is a poseable character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game or television program; fictional or historical. These figures are usually mar ...

as part of the

World of Springfield The World of Springfield is a series of action figures featuring characters from the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. The line ran between December 1999 and December 2004 and was released by Playmates Toys. The toy action figure series was called ...

toy line.

Notes

References

External links

Fat Tony
on

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tony, Fat The Simpsons characters Villains in animated television series Television characters introduced in 1991 Animated characters introduced in 1991 Fictional gangsters Fictional Italian American people Fictional kidnappers Fictional thieves Fictional underbosses Fictional violinists Male characters in animated series Male villains