Fat Tony


 * This is on the original Fat Tony, to see the Fat Tony who debuted in "Donnie Fatso", please see Fit Tony

Marion Anthony D'Amico, also known as William Williams or, more commonly, "Fat Tony", was the boss of the D'Amico crime family. He has been behind several of Springfield's criminal enterprises. His rackets included illegal gambling, cigarette smuggling, and bootlegging. He had also been seen bribing and making secret deals with Mayor Quimby.

Fat Tony also has a son, Michael, who he drove to school. He was a widower and referred to his wife's death as; "She was whacked, by natural causes." Fat Tony and his associates met in what is known as the Legitimate Businessman's Social Club.

Fat Tony died in the episode "Donnie Fatso" of cardiac arrest at age 48, but his cousin Fit Tony gained weight and took over as the new Fat Tony.

Biography
Fat Tony was born Anthony D'Amico in Brooklyn, New York where he was very poor. When his parents were evicted, he ran away seeing they couldn't offer him anymore. He would usually sleep at a friend's house, a super market (he would sneak in when it was closed), vacant buildings, or in the streets. Finally, a young man in the mafia found him sleeping on a bench in Central Park and got him a job in the mob. This man was named Salvatore Tessio; he had taught Tony everything. One night when Tony was 20-years-old, Sal was found missing. Tony learned to fend for himself after that and, using what Sal taught him, he worked his way up from a henchmen to a Capo. Eventually, he married Anna Maria D'Amico and had a son named Michael D'Amico. Unfortunately, an enemy tried to shoot Tony and Anne Maria protected him by jumping in front and later dying. Eventually, Tony married Sandy.

Family


Fat Tony is a widower; he had a wife named Anna Maria with her grave in Springfield Cemetery who was "whacked by natural causes." Tony has a son named Michael, whom he planned to have follow in his footsteps as the leader of the Springfield Mob. Following his death, it was revealed that he has a cousin called Fit Tony, who later became the new Fat Tony.

Behind the Laughter
Originally, Tony was going to be voiced by Hank Azaria. However, since Fat Tony wasn't a very good drawing, Groening decided to make a Special Guest Voice do him. Groening chose Joe Mantegna. In one DVD commentary it is stated that Mr. Mantegna is so enamored with the character that he has forbidden to allow anyone else to voice Fat Tony; he even voiced him when the script only called for a couple of grunts ("Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes"). However, this didn't stop Phil Hartman filling in for him on one occasion ("A Fish Called Selma"). Watch Season 7 disc 3 commentary for details about Phil as Fat Tony.

Inspiration
Fat Tony is a pastiche of Mafia characters from movies and dramas, especially The Godfather franchise (and in later seasons The Sopranos). His nickname may be a reference to "Black Tony", the Don of the fictional Stracci family in The Godfather. After 1999 Fat Tony is clearly based on Tony Sopranos of The Sopranos. In several episodes the Sopranos intro theme ('Woke Up This Morning' by Alabama 3) is played in scenes with Fat Tony.

"Moe Baby Blues" featured several interesting references relating to Fat Tony. To entertain his subordinates, Fat Tony puts an orange slice in his mouth in imitation of Don Corleone from The Godfather. Minutes later, Fat Tony responds to an emotional scene by saying "I haven't cried this much since I paid to see Godfather III" (in which Mantegna played the character Joey Zasa, one of the inspirations for Fat Tony). His son's name is a reference to Michael Corleone.

On several occasions Fat Tony's has said something that begins as ominous gang language, only to be proven innocent; one example is "We are going for a ride... By which I mean the carpool" and "Now who's ready to sleep with da fishes?... Because I brought this Finding Nemo comforter!" This also led to some confusion among his fellow mafia members, such as the time when Troy McClure was involved in a scandal involving a sexual attraction to fishes, and he told his fellow gang members that he was "sleeping with the fishes", causing them to misinterpret the meaning to Troy having died when he was actually meaning that McClure was literally sleeping with the fishes. His house also strongly resembles that of Tony Montana in the movie Scarface.

Fat Tony also bears similiarities to notorious mobster Al Capone.

Trivia

 * Fat Tony being a competent Violinist is a reference to the Thompson Submachine gun (Tommy), which was the mafia's weapon of choice, was nicknamed the Chicago Typewriter and was generally carried in a violin case.
 * Fat Tony's name probably comes from a Simpsons re-recording animator also named Anthony D'Amico.