Charles Martinet

"Ah, that Charles Martinet. Nice Italian boy."

- Mario

Charles Martinet (last name pronounced mar-tin-AY), born September 17, 1955 in San Jose, California, United States, is the prominent voice actor of the Mario games. He voices several major characters, including Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Baby Wario, Metal Mario, Toadsworth, and many other characters. Martinet portrayed the male bosses in Super Mario Advance as well. Martinet plays the vast majority of the male characters in the Mario series. The Internet Movie Database attributes over seventy works to Martinet in total. Martinet speaks fluent French, English and Spanish, but, ironically, only a little Italian. His first voice over work at Nintendo was voicing the announcers, boxers and the referee in Super Punch-Out!! for the SNES.

Martinet originally wasn't invited to audition for the role of Mario. He crashed the auditions, and was asked to do an Italian accent. His recordings left so much of an impression that they were the only one sent to Nintendo. A former Shakespearean actor, Martinet has stated that Mario's voice was based on his voice for Gremio, a character from The Taming of the Shrew.

Martinet first officially voiced Mario with Mario in Real Time in 1994, when he had motion sensors hooked to his face, which transposed his facial movements to a computer-generated Mario head on a screen. Martinet watched people passing by the screen through a surveillance camera and talked to them as Mario. This is used rather often by Nintendo when attending trade shows. An altered form of Mario in Real Time appeared in 1995's Mario's FUNdamentals, the first video game to have Mario portrayed by him.

Portrayals

 * Mario in Real Time as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Donkey Kong / Mama Mario / Papa
 * Mario's Game Gallery as Mario
 * Super Mario 64 as Mario
 * Mario Kart 64 as Mario / Luigi (English) / Wario (English) / Thwomps (English)
 * Mario Teaches Typing 2 as Mario
 * Mario's FUNdamentals as Mario
 * Mario Party as Mario
 * Super Smash Bros. as Mario / Luigi
 * Mario Golf as Mario / Luigi / Baby Mario / Wario / Metal Mario (shared with Mario)
 * Mario Party 2 as Mario
 * Mario Tennis as Mario / Luigi / Baby Mario / Wario / Waluigi
 * Mario Party 3 as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi
 * Super Mario Advance as Mario / Luigi / Clawgrip / Tryclyde / Mouser / Fryguy / Wart
 * Dr. Mario 64 as Dr. Mario / Wario / Metal Mario
 * Mario Kart: Super Circuit as Mario
 * Wario Land 4 as Wario
 * Luigi's Mansion as Luigi / Mario
 * Super Smash Bros. Melee as Mario / Luigi / Dr. Mario
 * Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 as Mario / Luigi
 * Super Mario Sunshine as Mario / Toadsworth / male Piantas / Pianta Attorney
 * Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 as Baby Mario
 * Mario Party 4 as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi
 * WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! as Wario
 * Wario World as Wario
 * Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 as Mario / Luigi
 * Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Shadow Mario
 * WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$! as Wario
 * Mario Kart: Double Dash!! as Mario / Luigi / Baby Mario / Baby Luigi / Wario / Waluigi
 * Mario Party 5 as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi
 * Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga as Mario / Luigi
 * Mario Golf: Advance Tour as Mario / Luigi / Waluigi / Wario
 * Mario vs. Donkey Kong as Mario / Mini Mario)
 * Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door as Mario
 * Mario Pinball Land as Mario
 * WarioWare: Twisted! as Wario / Wario-Man
 * Mario Power Tennis as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi
 * Mario Party 6 as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi
 * Super Mario 64 DS as Mario / Luigi / Wario
 * WarioWare: Touched! as Wario
 * Yoshi Touch & Go as Baby Mario
 * Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix as Mario / Luigi
 * Mario Superstar Baseball as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Baby Mario / Baby Luigi / Toadsworth / male Piantas
 * Mario Tennis: Power Tour as Mario / Luigi / Waluigi
 * Mario Kart Arcade GP as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Robo Mario
 * Super Princess Peach as Mario / Luigi
 * Mario Party 7 as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi
 * Mario Kart DS as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / male Piantas
 * Super Mario Strikers as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi
 * Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time as Mario / Luigi / Baby Mario / Baby Luigi
 * New Super Mario Bros. as Mario / Luigi
 * Mario Hoops 3-on-3 as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi
 * Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis as Mario / Mini Mario / Fire Mini Mario / Gold Mini Mario
 * Yoshi's Island DS as Baby Mario / Baby Wario
 * WarioWare: Smooth Moves as Wario
 * Wario: Master of Disguise as Wario
 * Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Robo Mario
 * Super Paper Mario as Mario / Luigi
 * Mario Strikers Charged as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi
 * Mario Party 8 as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / male Piantas
 * Super Mario Galaxy as Mario / Luigi
 * Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi
 * Mario Party DS as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi
 * Mario Kart Wii as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Baby Mario / Baby Luigi / male Piantas
 * Mario Super Sluggers as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Baby Mario / Baby Luigi / Toadsworth / male Piantas
 * Wario Land: Shake It! as Wario
 * WarioWare: Snapped! as Wario
 * Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story as Mario / Luigi
 * WarioWare: D.I.Y. as Wario
 * Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! as Mario / Mini Mario
 * Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi
 * New Super Mario Bros. Wii as Mario / Luigi
 * Super Mario Galaxy 2 as Mario / Luigi / Piantas
 * Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem as Mario / Mini Mario
 * Mario Sports Mix as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi
 * Super Mario 3D Land as Mario / Luigi
 * Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi
 * Fortune Street as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi
 * Mario Kart 7 as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Metal Mario
 * Mario Party 9 as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Pianta
 * Mario Tennis Open as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Baby Mario / Metal Mario
 * New Super Mario Bros. 2 as Mario / Luigi
 * New Super Mario Bros. U as Mario / Luigi
 * Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon as Luigi / Mario
 * Game & Wario as Wario
 * Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move as Mario / Mini Mario / Gold Mini Mario
 * New Super Luigi U as Luigi
 * Mario & Luigi: Dream Team as Mario / Luigi
 * Mario Kart Arcade GP DX as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi
 * Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi
 * Mario Party: Island Tour as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi
 * Super Mario 3D World as Mario / Luigi
 * Yoshi's New Island as Baby Mario
 * Mario Golf: World Tour as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Gold Mario (shared with Mario)
 * Mario Kart 8 as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Baby Mario / Baby Luigi / Metal Mario / Tanooki Mario / male Piantas
 * Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Dr. Mario
 * Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars as Mini Mario / Mario / Gold Mini Mario / Mini Luigi / Cursed Mini Mario
 * Mario Party 10 as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi
 * Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition as Mario / Luigi
 * Super Mario Maker as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Cat Mario / Gold Mario / Silver Mario
 * Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi
 * Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam as Mario / Luigi
 * Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi
 * Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge as Mini Mario / Mini Luigi

Trivia

 * In Mario Party, Super Smash Bros., Mario Golf, and Mario Party 2, and the Japanese version of Mario Kart 64, his surname is misspelled "Martinee", like how it is pronounced.
 * According to an interview in 2009, Charles Martinet told Shigeru Miyamoto that he wanted to voice Link in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, though Miyamoto told him that Link would remain without a voice. In the final game, his grunts and yells were portrayed by Nobuyuki Hiyama.
 * Charles Martinet's favorite Mario game is Super Mario Maker. He is also a fan of the Mario Kart series, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, New Super Mario Bros. U and Super Mario 3D World.
 * At the time of his audition, Charles Martinet had never heard of Mario nor Nintendo.