Ken Rosenberg

Ken "Rosie" Rosenberg is a recurring character in the Grand Theft Auto series, having prominent roles in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (set in 1986) and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (set in 1992). He is also mentioned in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (set in 1984), with some fans believing he also appears in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (set in 1998). He is voiced in both of his appearances by William Fichtner, who is also credited as Bill Fitchner, who has starred in, amongst other things, the film Empire Falls.

1980s
Ken Rosenberg successfully trained as a lawyer, although he is suspected of cheating on his exams, and established his own business, K. Rosenberg & Co., establishing the business in Vice City, the city of his birth, with the company's office being inside the Hotel Harrison in Washington Beach. By 1984 his company has begun to represent the Vice News Network legally, with the company advising people, through a VNN new report, to quote the second amendment of the American constitution if they are prosecuted for illegally using a firearm, after open gun fights in the Downtown district (seen during the mission Nice Package). By 1986 he has also established ties with the Liberty City based Forelli Family, an Italian-American mob, and has begun to represent them legally.

In 1986 he helps Sonny Forelli, the suspected Don of the Family, in establishing his family in Vice City by setting up a drug deal between the Vance Crime Family's Victor and Lance Vance and Forelli Family representatives Tommy Vercetti, Harry and Lee. The deal was ambushed but Rosenberg and Vercetti escaped, with Rosenberg hiding in his office, even missing Colonel Juan Cortez yacht party, instead sending Vercetti to meet the man who set up the deal and later to find out who ambushed the deal. Rosenberg had, before the ambushed drugs deal, been representing Giorgio Forelli, who was facing charges of fraud, and sent Vercetti to intimidate two jurors. He had also begun representing real estate mogul Avery Carrington, who Vercetti later began to work for after causing a riot at the Spand Express depot.

Vercetti eventually stops working for Rosenberg, who begins to represent him and bailing him from Vice City Police Department police stations across the city, with Rosenberg later attempting to give Vercetti advice about earning more money and about a planned bank heist. He later sides with Vercetti when Sonny Forelli arrives in Vice City and, along with Lance Vance, a former ally of Vercetti, attempt to take over Vercetti's business empire. The two become close friends, although Rosenberg's cocaine addiction later drives a wedge between the two.

1990s
Tommy Vercetti and Ken Rosenberg continue to drift apart in the early 1990s, with Rosenberg eventually enterting rehabilitation at the Fort Carson Medical Center in Fort Carson, San Andreas. His rehabilitation is successful but his friendship with Vercetti is ended, with Vercetti refusing to answer his calls, whilst he is also disbarred from the law. Rosenberg, however, immediately falls into the clutches to Liberty City's three mafia families, the Forelli Family, Leone Family and the Sindacco Family, who have him run Caligula's Casino, a mafia run in Las Venturas, with all three families having a stake in the casino.

Rosenberg is informed by Salvatore Leone, Don of the Leone Family, that he wants his money back quickly, whilst he expectantly waits for one family to kill him and blame one of the other families. Rosenberg begins to hide in his office once again, with only Tony, a talking parrot, for company. Kent Paul and his client Maccer later find Rosenberg and introduce him to Carl Johnson, who begins to help Rosenberg out of his situation, including saving Johnny Sindacco on his way to the hospital and later accidentally killing him, Carl induces a heart attack after Johnny remembers their previous encounter.

Carl later works for both Rosenberg and Salvatore Leone to kill more Sindacco and Forelli Family mobsters, both in San Andreas and Liberty City. Eventually Carl helps Rosenberg, as well as the by now trapped Kent Paul and Maccer, to escape from Salvatore Leone, telling them to lie low. Rosenberg, who began to use cocaine, also seemingly has flashbacks, once stating "Just like old times, hey Tommy?', in reference to Tommy Vercetti. Rosenberg and Kent Paul later begin to work for Madd Dogg, a rapper who is being managed by Carl Johnson. He, Kent Paul, Maccer and Madd Dogg later appear in the Johnson House in Grove Street, Ganton, Los Santos, to announce Carl and Madd Dogg's first gold record.

Nothing after the events of GTA San Andreas can be confirmed, although some fans believe that in GTA Liberty City Stories he calls into The Electron Zone on Liberty City Free Radio, from Carcer City, to complaining about being arrested by the FBI for looking up pictures on the internet. The caller is named Ken, although no surname is given.

Development
Ken Rosenberg is voiced by William Fichtner (also credited as Bill Fitchner) and is based on David Kleinfeld, played by Sean Penn, from Carlito's Way. The two characters have a similar appearance and both are rendered increasingly paranoid and incoherent due to their cocaine addictions. The offices of both characters are also almost identical.

GTA Vice City

 * In The Beginning
 * The Party (Boss)
 * Back Alley Brawl (Boss)
 * Jury Fury (Boss)
 * Riot (Boss)
 * Shakedown
 * No Escape?
 * The Shootist
 * The Driver
 * The Job
 * Keep Your Friends Close...

GTA San Andreas

 * The Introduction
 * Don Peyote
 * Intensive Care (Boss)
 * The Meat Business (Boss)
 * Freefall (Semi-Boss)
 * Saint Mark's Bistro
 * End of the Line