Tenpenny Real Name: Frank Tenpenny (GTA Character Bio)

Fictional character. Frank Tenpenny is a fictional character from Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto series. They're not a real person.

Quick answer

Frank Tenpenny is the fictional corrupt police officer and main villain of GTA: San Andreas, voiced by Samuel L. Jackson.

Bio

Officer Frank Tenpenny is the corrupt police officer at the center of San Andreas and one of GTA's most famous villains. He's voiced by Samuel L. Jackson, which was one of the series' biggest Hollywood castings.

Tenpenny leads C.R.A.S.H., an anti-gang police unit in Los Santos, alongside his partner Eddie Pulaski. They're meant to fight gang crime, but they really run their own criminal business, taking bribes, dealing drugs and killing anyone in their way. At the start of the game, they pick up CJ as soon as he gets back to Los Santos, threaten to pin a police officer's murder on him and force him to do their dirty work.

Tenpenny is controlling, threatening and very good at making CJ feel powerless. He keeps coming back throughout the game, demanding favors and pulling CJ away from his own plans. He's also behind the larger plot: he's working with Big Smoke and the Ballas to flood Los Santos with crack.

Tenpenny's story builds to the end of the game, when he's finally charged. The charges are dropped, and that sets off a city-wide riot and the final confrontation between him and CJ.

The character is clearly inspired by real-life police corruption scandals in 1990s Los Angeles, which gives San Andreas some of its edge. Tenpenny is fictional, but Samuel L. Jackson's voice credit is listed in the official credits.