Mario Segale

Mario Arnold Segale was an American real-estate developer of retail malls and office buildings and landlord based in Seattle, Washington. Born to Italian immigrants, he was the owner of the M.A. Segale construction company and was responsible for projects in the South King Country. Segale was known for being the namesake for Mario. According to a widely shared anecdote by Nintendo staff, the Nintendo of America staff, during a meeting in a warehouse, encountered an exasperated Segale who berated them for overdue rent, and they decided to name Jumpman (which the Mario character was initially called) due to his physical similarities and his reputation for being kind and charitable, but also rambunctious when angered. The story was widely shared in the book Game Over, but Segale's last name was mispelled as "Segali", which was thought to be his spelling for years. The story was later confirmed by Nintendo through the 2015 video Mario Myths with Mr Miyamoto.

Despite the notoriety, he was known to be proud of the association and happily shared his amusing anecdote with his grandchildren and his close friends. There is little information about Segale, however, as he kept a low profile throughout his life, and few photographs of him exist.

Segale passed away in his home in Tukwila, Washington in October 2018 at age 85. According to his obituary, he wanted to be known for his life accomplishments, and according to his acquaintances, he was said to be reluctant to be associated with the Super Mario character due to the risk of it interfering with his brand.

Trivia

 * Segale was a duck hunting hobbyist and his favorite color was red.