Gay Tony: Difference between revisions
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== Description == | == Description == | ||
====Childhood==== | ====Childhood and college years==== | ||
Tony Prince was born in 1958 in the Midwest to Jewish parents, and "grew up" in [[Dukes]]. According to the Maisonette 9 website, "as a young boy he wandered to the Humboldt River and dreamed of living on the other side so he would no longer be considered [[East Borough Bridge|bridge]] and tunnel". He also likely would have struggled with his sexuality in his teen years, especially growing up in a somewhat dangerous neigborhood. In The Ballad of Gay Tony, it is mentioned several times that Tony is originally from Dukes, though he is not proud of it and tries to forget about it, instead identifying with the [[Algonquin]] crowd, "and as soon as he went to college, his dream came true". He says of growing up in the 1960s, before the rise of gay subculture in the 1970s, "In my day, gay guys used to be lonely, needy, and lost. Now, they're all in relationships!". | Tony Prince was born in 1958 in the Midwest to Jewish parents, and "grew up" in [[Dukes]]. According to the Maisonette 9 website, "as a young boy he wandered to the Humboldt River and dreamed of living on the other side so he would no longer be considered [[East Borough Bridge|bridge]] and tunnel". He also likely would have struggled with his sexuality in his teen years, especially growing up in a somewhat dangerous neigborhood. In The Ballad of Gay Tony, it is mentioned several times that Tony is originally from Dukes, though he is not proud of it and tries to forget about it, instead identifying with the [[Algonquin]] crowd, "and as soon as he went to college, his dream came true". He says of growing up in the 1960s, before the rise of gay subculture in the 1970s, "In my day, gay guys used to be lonely, needy, and lost. Now, they're all in relationships!". | ||
Tony would have gone to college during or after 1976, though he did not focus on his studies. In the mid-1980s, his first experience working at a nightclub came from being in the cloakroom and eventually the front door of ''Elephant'', until a fire caused it to shut down. In 1983<ref name="Libertytree1">"Tony Prince Asks For Night-Time Leniency" by [[Tony J. Smith]], Liberty Tree ([[libertytreeonline.com|www.libertytreeonline.com/news.html]]) (In game website.)</ref>, the first club he opened for himself was ''PUDDLE'', a rave venue, until Tony was arrested for tax evasion in 1985, spending 3 months in jail<ref name="Libertytree1"/>. According to Luis, Tony also first earned the nickname "Gay Tony" in 1985 - as the nickname suggests, Tony became openly homosexual by the time he was 27. | |||
====Height of career and reputation==== | |||
After the failure of ''2 Backed Beast'', he opened ''[[Hercules]]'' in 1999. That same year, he got in police trouble for "public lewdness" | According to the Maisonette 9 website, his next club (and first gay club) was ''Thunder'' in 1986 which was later renamed ''2 Backed Beas'''t''''' and eventually shut down by the city. At the height of his career, he also proprieted clubs called ''[[Peacock]]'', ''[[Platonic Fury]]'' and ''[[Cox]]'' <ref name="Libertytree1"/> (Tony "returned to the gay scene" in 1999, which would suggest that none of those three clubs were gay-oriented). In 1996, he was arrested for possession of cocaine. After the failure of ''2 Backed Beast'', he opened ''[[Hercules]]'' in 1999. That same year, he got in police trouble for "public lewdness". Sometime between 1999 and 2003, the counterpart straight club in Tony's portfolio was called ''Death By Machines'', until it burned down and Tony was briefly banned from opening new venues. | ||
====[[Maisonette 9]] ownership and personal struggles==== | |||
In 2003 his hiatus ended and he was allowed to open ''[[Maisonette 9]]'', but still came under heavier scrutiny for his club's policies on safety, age-checking and drug use. <ref name="Libertytree2">"Club Owner Appeals for Vice" by [[Mary Williamson]], Liberty Tree ([[libertytreeonline.com|www.libertytreeonline.com/news.html]]) (In game website.)</ref> Sometime after opening the club, he met [[Gracie Ancelotti]], a [[Ancelotti Crime Family|mob]] daughter who once failed to get inside ''Maisonette 9'' but was granted a membership after befriending Gay Tony (as Gracie tells [[Niko Bellic]] in "[[I'll Take Her]]"). Gay Tony would later be heavily in debt to [[Giovanni Ancelotti|her father]]. | |||
In | In 2005, Gay Tony hired [[Luis Fernando Lopez|Luis Lopez]] as a doorman and bouncer for ''Hercules''. They quickly form a father-son-like relationship (Luis having been abandoned by his father, and Tony being unlikely to ever have children due to his age and orientation). Gay Tony had been dating a yoga instructor long-term before meeting his boyfriend [[Evan Moss]]. Evan first got him hooked on painkillers and cocaine, according to Luis, and by 2008 Tony had been to rehab 6 times<ref name="Libertytree1"/>. He also gained world-famous heiress [[Cloe Parker]] as a best customer and casual friend. Like Gracie, Cloe uses a lot of cocaine and influences Tony down a similar path. Tony once confides in Luis during [[I Luv L.C.|I Luv LC]] "Oh my god, 45 years old [a false claim] and I get my kicks doing blow with 17 year old kids whose only claim to fame is that people know better what their vagina looks like than their face. I should be sent to prison, shouldn't I?". | ||
According to '''www.maisonette9.com''': | According to '''www.maisonette9.com''': | ||
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At the same time, he catered to the heterosexual crowd with the now legendary DEATH BY MACHINES. After DEATH BY MACHINES burned down, Tony was breifly banned from opening any new venues, before he opened [[Maisonette 9]] in 2003. As Tony says, in his inimicable style, "I do it for the love, that and the easy money, access to drugs and ability to suck up to famous people" }} | At the same time, he catered to the heterosexual crowd with the now legendary DEATH BY MACHINES. After DEATH BY MACHINES burned down, Tony was breifly banned from opening any new venues, before he opened [[Maisonette 9]] in 2003. As Tony says, in his inimicable style, "I do it for the love, that and the easy money, access to drugs and ability to suck up to famous people" }} | ||
====Ballad of Gay Tony==== | |||
Luis must work for Tony's loan sharks, [[Rocco Pelosi]] and [[Mori Kibbutz]]. Because of his debt Tony is interested in selling off Maisonette 9, sometimes even resorting to fraud (such as pretending to sell the club to two people at once, and briefly considering setting up a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponzi_scheme Ponzi scheme]). Luis works on the side for two men, [[Yusuf Amir]] and [[Ray Bulgarin]], who Tony considers serious potential buyers because of their extreme wealth. However, Luis hides this from Tony and goes so far as to lie to Tony about his activities [[Sexy Time|at least]] [[Going Deep|twice]]. | |||
Tony sees a last chance to pay off his debts in buying and selling some [[Diamonds|$2 million diamonds]] for a small profit. When Luis, Tony and his boyfriend [[Evan Moss|Evan]] [[Frosting On The Cake|go to buy]] the diamonds from [[The Cook|a cook]] at the [[Platypus]], they are all ambushed by [[Johnny Klebitz]] and other members of [[The Lost]], resulting in the death of Evan (who may or may not have tried to steal the diamonds for himself). Luis thankfully recovers them after he ambushes a [[Not So Fast|deal]] between Johnny, [[Niko Bellic]], and [[Isaac Roth]]. He met Ray Bulgarin after this event, who later claimed that Luis and Tony conspired against him by buying the diamonds - by chance, the cook had stolen them from him. [[Gracie Ancelotti]] was kidnapped, and the kidnappers (the selling party from the diamond deal) demanded the diamonds back from [[Giovanni Ancelotti]] in exchange. Luis and Tony safely exchanged the diamonds for Gracie, which resulted in Tony still losing out on $2 million but remaining at peace with the Ancelotti family. Bulgarin successfully persuades Pelosi to have Tony killed, who ironically choose Luis as the one to shoot Tony in exchange for his own life. Luis briefly considers shooting Tony before turning the gun on Rocco (shooting [[Uncle Vince|his uncle]], allowing Rocco to flee because of his connections). Within minutes, Bulgarin's men ambush Maisonette 9 in hopes of killing Luis and Tony, which they fail to do after a violent shootout. Finally, Luis successfully kills Bulgarin, blowing up his private jet before it leaves the country. Afterwards, Luis and Tony were apparently free of debts and loose ends. | |||
He may or may not have finally sold ''Maisonette 9'' to [[Yusuf Amir]], who sought to franchise it all over the world, even in Pakistan and on the moon (saying he was quite serious about this). Tony tells Yusuf that "the club is all about the people", and after Yusuf expresses apathy by saying "You can [...] piss on them!", Tony instead tells him that he would be very qualified to own the club. | |||
Tony also often spoke of his intentions to move to an extremely secluded getaway spa town, saying his life in Liberty was too stressful (though he says this at the very height of his financial problems, and could have reconsidered). | |||
After The Ballad of Gay Tony is complete, Tony makes no further appearances. He cannot be called (as his phone number is taken out of Luis's phonebook) or e-mailed and he never appears at either of his clubs. The reason why is unknown, as it is stated that he changed his mind about moving away where nobody would find him. | |||
===Possible real-life inspirations=== | ===Possible real-life inspirations=== | ||
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Many elements also seem to have been taken from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Rubell Steve Rubell], owner of the legendary [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_54 Studio 54]. Both were born in New York City (Liberty being a parody), and faced club raids and tax evasion charges since their early years of success. Their business models were also very similar, including a strict, trendy dress code (which Rubell would sometimes enforce personally). Both were homosexuals and habitual drug users, although Rubell kept it a secret, got diagnosed with AIDS in 1985 and died of hepatitis in 1989. | Many elements also seem to have been taken from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Rubell Steve Rubell], owner of the legendary [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_54 Studio 54]. Both were born in New York City (Liberty being a parody), and faced club raids and tax evasion charges since their early years of success. Their business models were also very similar, including a strict, trendy dress code (which Rubell would sometimes enforce personally). Both were homosexuals and habitual drug users, although Rubell kept it a secret, got diagnosed with AIDS in 1985 and died of hepatitis in 1989. | ||
Maisonette 9 bears an uncanny resemblance to New York nightclub Bungalow 8 (see Maisonette 9 article for details). | Maisonette 9 bears an uncanny resemblance to New York nightclub Bungalow 8 (see [[Maisonette 9 ]]article for details). | ||
==LCPD Database information== | ==LCPD Database information== | ||
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* Tony is depicted to be wearing a pair of purple and black designer sunglasses. However, its design varies slightly between GTA IV and The Ballad of Gay Tony, with minor differences in details. | * Tony is depicted to be wearing a pair of purple and black designer sunglasses. However, its design varies slightly between GTA IV and The Ballad of Gay Tony, with minor differences in details. | ||
* In his only appearance in The Lost and Damned, "[[Diamonds in the Rough]]", Tony is not seen wearing the sunglasses, the only instance in the series when he doesn't wear any eyewear, except in the mission "[[Bang Bang]]." | * In his only appearance in The Lost and Damned, "[[Diamonds in the Rough]]", Tony is not seen wearing the sunglasses, the only instance in the series when he doesn't wear any eyewear, except in the mission "[[Bang Bang]]." | ||
* Tony Prince is the only character who doesn't wear a helmet when on the bike. | * Tony Prince is the only character who doesn't wear a helmet when on the bike. | ||
* Tony is the only homosexual character in the game who helps protagonist in fights, and isn't afraid to shoot and can handle a gun. Despite the fact that [[Bernie Crane]] was a soldier and [[Evan Moss]] was a bodybuilder, they were always afraid of shooting and fighting. Tony also wanted to help [[Luis]] in his last fight with [[Bulgarin]]'s men, because he always made a share in their fire fights, and called himself "seasoned veteran by anyone's standarts". | * Tony is the only homosexual character in the game who helps protagonist in fights, and isn't afraid to shoot and can handle a gun. Despite the fact that [[Bernie Crane]] was a soldier and [[Evan Moss]] was a bodybuilder, they were always afraid of shooting and fighting. Tony also wanted to help [[Luis]] in his last fight with [[Bulgarin]]'s men, because he always made a share in their fire fights, and called himself "seasoned veteran by anyone's standarts". | ||
== Gallery == | == Gallery == | ||
Revision as of 23:33, 16 April 2010
| Anthony Prince | |
|---|---|
 Gay Tony in Ballad of Gay Tony | |
| Appearances |
[[Appearance::Grand Theft Auto IV The Lost and Damned The Ballad of Gay Tony]] |
| Full Name | Anthony Prince |
| Aliases |
Gay Tony Tony Prince Tone T |
| Gender | Gender::Male |
| Date of Birth | [[Error: Invalid time.|1958 (age 50, although he claims to be 45)]] |
| Place of Birth | Dukes, Liberty City |
| Age Now | |
| Nationality | American |
| Home | Little Italy, Liberty City |
| Main Affiliations |
Luis Fernando Lopez Ancelotti Family Evan Moss Dessie Joni Troy Yusuf Amir Rocco Pelosi Cloe Parker Tom Rivas |
| Vehicles | A black Schafter |
| Businesses | Nightclub owner |
| Voiced by | D.B. Cooper |
| ADVERTISEMENT | |
| |
Anthony Prince, otherwise known as Gay Tony, is a nightclub entrepreneur in the GTA IV era. Tony plays a major role in the DLC pack The Ballad of Gay Tony, as its name suggests. In the first trailer for the game, he tells Luis that he is about to lose all he owns, since he owed money to Rocco Pelosi and Mori Kibbutz.
Description
Childhood and college years
Tony Prince was born in 1958 in the Midwest to Jewish parents, and "grew up" in Dukes. According to the Maisonette 9 website, "as a young boy he wandered to the Humboldt River and dreamed of living on the other side so he would no longer be considered bridge and tunnel". He also likely would have struggled with his sexuality in his teen years, especially growing up in a somewhat dangerous neigborhood. In The Ballad of Gay Tony, it is mentioned several times that Tony is originally from Dukes, though he is not proud of it and tries to forget about it, instead identifying with the Algonquin crowd, "and as soon as he went to college, his dream came true". He says of growing up in the 1960s, before the rise of gay subculture in the 1970s, "In my day, gay guys used to be lonely, needy, and lost. Now, they're all in relationships!".
Tony would have gone to college during or after 1976, though he did not focus on his studies. In the mid-1980s, his first experience working at a nightclub came from being in the cloakroom and eventually the front door of Elephant, until a fire caused it to shut down. In 1983[1], the first club he opened for himself was PUDDLE, a rave venue, until Tony was arrested for tax evasion in 1985, spending 3 months in jail[1]. According to Luis, Tony also first earned the nickname "Gay Tony" in 1985 - as the nickname suggests, Tony became openly homosexual by the time he was 27.
Height of career and reputation
According to the Maisonette 9 website, his next club (and first gay club) was Thunder in 1986 which was later renamed 2 Backed Beast and eventually shut down by the city. At the height of his career, he also proprieted clubs called Peacock, Platonic Fury and Cox [1] (Tony "returned to the gay scene" in 1999, which would suggest that none of those three clubs were gay-oriented). In 1996, he was arrested for possession of cocaine. After the failure of 2 Backed Beast, he opened Hercules in 1999. That same year, he got in police trouble for "public lewdness". Sometime between 1999 and 2003, the counterpart straight club in Tony's portfolio was called Death By Machines, until it burned down and Tony was briefly banned from opening new venues.
Maisonette 9 ownership and personal struggles
In 2003 his hiatus ended and he was allowed to open Maisonette 9, but still came under heavier scrutiny for his club's policies on safety, age-checking and drug use. [2] Sometime after opening the club, he met Gracie Ancelotti, a mob daughter who once failed to get inside Maisonette 9 but was granted a membership after befriending Gay Tony (as Gracie tells Niko Bellic in "I'll Take Her"). Gay Tony would later be heavily in debt to her father.
In 2005, Gay Tony hired Luis Lopez as a doorman and bouncer for Hercules. They quickly form a father-son-like relationship (Luis having been abandoned by his father, and Tony being unlikely to ever have children due to his age and orientation). Gay Tony had been dating a yoga instructor long-term before meeting his boyfriend Evan Moss. Evan first got him hooked on painkillers and cocaine, according to Luis, and by 2008 Tony had been to rehab 6 times[1]. He also gained world-famous heiress Cloe Parker as a best customer and casual friend. Like Gracie, Cloe uses a lot of cocaine and influences Tony down a similar path. Tony once confides in Luis during I Luv LC "Oh my god, 45 years old [a false claim] and I get my kicks doing blow with 17 year old kids whose only claim to fame is that people know better what their vagina looks like than their face. I should be sent to prison, shouldn't I?".
According to www.maisonette9.com:
Tony Prince, the legendary "Gay Tony", grew up in Dukes, as a young boy he wandered to the Humboldt River and dreamed of living on the other side so he would no longer be considered bridge and tunnel and as soon as he went to college, his dream came true. Ignoring school, he spent the middle part of the 1980s working the cloakroom and then the door at the legendary Elephant, until that closed down following a fire. Tony's next venture was the classic rave venue PUDDLE, based famously in a converted mortuary. Unfortunately, the tax man decided Tony was having too much of a good a time and the club was closed and Tony narrowly avoided jail. Next he opened his first gay club, Thunder, which itself evolved into 2 Backed Beast. After this was shut down by the city, he returned to the gay scene with Hercules, which has now been open for ten years.
At the same time, he catered to the heterosexual crowd with the now legendary DEATH BY MACHINES. After DEATH BY MACHINES burned down, Tony was breifly banned from opening any new venues, before he opened Maisonette 9 in 2003. As Tony says, in his inimicable style, "I do it for the love, that and the easy money, access to drugs and ability to suck up to famous people"
Ballad of Gay Tony
Luis must work for Tony's loan sharks, Rocco Pelosi and Mori Kibbutz. Because of his debt Tony is interested in selling off Maisonette 9, sometimes even resorting to fraud (such as pretending to sell the club to two people at once, and briefly considering setting up a Ponzi scheme). Luis works on the side for two men, Yusuf Amir and Ray Bulgarin, who Tony considers serious potential buyers because of their extreme wealth. However, Luis hides this from Tony and goes so far as to lie to Tony about his activities at least twice.
Tony sees a last chance to pay off his debts in buying and selling some $2 million diamonds for a small profit. When Luis, Tony and his boyfriend Evan go to buy the diamonds from a cook at the Platypus, they are all ambushed by Johnny Klebitz and other members of The Lost, resulting in the death of Evan (who may or may not have tried to steal the diamonds for himself). Luis thankfully recovers them after he ambushes a deal between Johnny, Niko Bellic, and Isaac Roth. He met Ray Bulgarin after this event, who later claimed that Luis and Tony conspired against him by buying the diamonds - by chance, the cook had stolen them from him. Gracie Ancelotti was kidnapped, and the kidnappers (the selling party from the diamond deal) demanded the diamonds back from Giovanni Ancelotti in exchange. Luis and Tony safely exchanged the diamonds for Gracie, which resulted in Tony still losing out on $2 million but remaining at peace with the Ancelotti family. Bulgarin successfully persuades Pelosi to have Tony killed, who ironically choose Luis as the one to shoot Tony in exchange for his own life. Luis briefly considers shooting Tony before turning the gun on Rocco (shooting his uncle, allowing Rocco to flee because of his connections). Within minutes, Bulgarin's men ambush Maisonette 9 in hopes of killing Luis and Tony, which they fail to do after a violent shootout. Finally, Luis successfully kills Bulgarin, blowing up his private jet before it leaves the country. Afterwards, Luis and Tony were apparently free of debts and loose ends.
He may or may not have finally sold Maisonette 9 to Yusuf Amir, who sought to franchise it all over the world, even in Pakistan and on the moon (saying he was quite serious about this). Tony tells Yusuf that "the club is all about the people", and after Yusuf expresses apathy by saying "You can [...] piss on them!", Tony instead tells him that he would be very qualified to own the club.
Tony also often spoke of his intentions to move to an extremely secluded getaway spa town, saying his life in Liberty was too stressful (though he says this at the very height of his financial problems, and could have reconsidered).
After The Ballad of Gay Tony is complete, Tony makes no further appearances. He cannot be called (as his phone number is taken out of Luis's phonebook) or e-mailed and he never appears at either of his clubs. The reason why is unknown, as it is stated that he changed his mind about moving away where nobody would find him.
Possible real-life inspirations
Gay Tony's influence over the Liberty City nightclub scene is mostly reminiscent of Peter Gatien, owner of the Limelight and other clubs. Like Prince, Gatien faced drug (1996) and tax evasion (1999) charges, and owned several nightclubs geared towards different crowds as investments. Unlike Prince, Gatien is a happily married heterosexual, and having been born in Canada, he was deported there after his drug charges and currently lives in Toronto.
Many elements also seem to have been taken from Steve Rubell, owner of the legendary Studio 54. Both were born in New York City (Liberty being a parody), and faced club raids and tax evasion charges since their early years of success. Their business models were also very similar, including a strict, trendy dress code (which Rubell would sometimes enforce personally). Both were homosexuals and habitual drug users, although Rubell kept it a secret, got diagnosed with AIDS in 1985 and died of hepatitis in 1989.
Maisonette 9 bears an uncanny resemblance to New York nightclub Bungalow 8 (see Maisonette 9 article for details).
LCPD Database information
Surname: Prince
First Name: "Gay" Tony
Age: 50
Place of Birth: Midwest
Affiliations: Linked to the Ancelotti Crime Syndicate
Criminal Record:
- 1985 - Tax Evasion
- 1996 - Possession Controlled Substance: Cocaine
- 1999 - Public Lewdness
Notes: *Nightclub entrepreneur believed to have links to organized crime, particularly the Ancelotti Crime Syndicate, through the DA's office has not manged to make any of the charges stick.
- Often seen in the company of Gracie Ancelotti, daughter of the Crime Syndicate's head.
- Recent raids have taken place to check the safety standards and underage admittance policy of his Algonquin clubs - Hercules and Maisonette 9.
- Employs associate of Northwood drug dealers, Luis Fernando Lopez, as a personal bodyguard.
Trivia
- Tony is depicted to be wearing a pair of purple and black designer sunglasses. However, its design varies slightly between GTA IV and The Ballad of Gay Tony, with minor differences in details.
- In his only appearance in The Lost and Damned, "Diamonds in the Rough", Tony is not seen wearing the sunglasses, the only instance in the series when he doesn't wear any eyewear, except in the mission "Bang Bang."
- Tony Prince is the only character who doesn't wear a helmet when on the bike.
- Tony is the only homosexual character in the game who helps protagonist in fights, and isn't afraid to shoot and can handle a gun. Despite the fact that Bernie Crane was a soldier and Evan Moss was a bodybuilder, they were always afraid of shooting and fighting. Tony also wanted to help Luis in his last fight with Bulgarin's men, because he always made a share in their fire fights, and called himself "seasoned veteran by anyone's standarts".
Gallery
-
Gay Tony in GTA IV, during "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend".
-
Game art of Gay Tony for The Ballad of Gay Tony.
-
Artwork of Gay Tony
Mission appearances
- GTA IV
- The Lost and Damned
- The Ballad of Gay Tony
- I Luv LC (Boss)
- Practice Swing (Boss)
- Chinese Takeout (Boss)
- Bang Bang (Boss)
- Blog This! (Boss)
- ...Blog This! (Boss)
- Frosting on the Cake (Boss)
- Boulevard Baby (Boss)
- Going Deep (Voice only)
- Ladies' Night (Boss)
- Ladies Half Price (Boss)
- Party's Over
- Departure Time (Boss)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Tony Prince Asks For Night-Time Leniency" by Tony J. Smith, Liberty Tree (www.libertytreeonline.com/news.html) (In game website.)
- ↑ "Club Owner Appeals for Vice" by Mary Williamson, Liberty Tree (www.libertytreeonline.com/news.html) (In game website.)
External link
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