33 Facts About Charles Martinet

Charles Andre Martinet was born on September 17,1955 and is an American actor.

Charles Martinet is best known for voicing Mario in the Super Mario franchise, portraying him from 1991 to 2023.

Charles Martinet voiced other characters in the series such as Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, and the baby equivalents of Mario and Luigi, prior to stepping down as voice actor to become an official brand ambassador for the series.

Charles Andre Martinet was born on September 17,1955, in San Jose or Cupertino, California to father Jacques Rene Pierre Martinet.

The younger of two children, he has an older brother, John, though he was taller than him despite being the younger sibling, and while his brother was extroverted, Charles Martinet was shy and more anxiety-driven than him in his youth.

Charles Martinet's family moved to Barcelona, Spain when he was 12 years old, where he attended an American middle school.

Charles Martinet attended the American School of Paris and graduated in 1974.

Charles Martinet attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he majored in history or politics.

Charles Martinet's first role was a monologue from the Spoon River Anthology.

Charles Martinet auditioned for and won an apprenticeship at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

Charles Martinet went on to become a founding member of the San Jose Repertory Theatre for four years.

Charles Martinet earned the job as Mario's voice at Nintendo when one day in 1991, he was on the beach and received a call from a friend who told him that there was going to be an audition at a trade show in which auditioneers "talk to people as a plumber".

Charles Martinet went to the audition at the last minute as the casting directors were already putting away their equipment.

At first Charles Martinet planned to talk like a stereotypical Italian American with a deep, raspy voice.

Charles Martinet then thought to himself that it would be too harsh for children to hear, so he made it more soft-hearted and friendly, resulting in what Mario's voice is today.

Charles Martinet has stated that he kept on talking with his Mario voice until the audition tape ran out.

Charles Martinet says that Gremio from William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew was an inspiration for his portrayal of Mario.

An opportunity he was not expecting, Charles Martinet agreed immediately, making the trip from Sausalito to Bad Animals Studio in Seattle to record for the game.

Mostly unscripted, Charles Martinet was given examples of what the teams in Japan were looking for by the producers, in addition to improvisation which lead to the creation of many of Mario's catchphrases.

Charles Martinet voiced the enemies Wart, Mouser, Tryclyde, and Clawgrip in Super Mario Advance.

Ultimate, the Guinness Book of World Records recognized Charles Martinet for having performed the same character in one hundred different titles, the most of any video game voice actor.

In February 2021, Charles Martinet said the possibility of reprising his role in the animated The Super Mario Bros.

Charles Martinet voiced the character Vigoro in Sega's Dreamcast and GameCube role-playing video game, Skies of Arcadia.

Charles Martinet did the voice of Homunculus in the Konami PlayStation 2, Xbox and Windows game Shadow of Destiny, and provided voices for Reader Rabbit and The ClueFinders games.

In 2009, Charles Martinet told That Gaming Site that he wanted to voice Link in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but Shigeru Miyamoto told him that Link would remain without a voice.

At the Electronic Entertainment Expo trade show in 2005, Charles Martinet remotely interacted with players from New York in a playable demo of Animal Crossing: Wild World.

Charles Martinet did Mario's voice as the announcer for Pac-Man Vs on the Nintendo GameCube.

Charles Martinet provided the voice of Magenta in the English dub of the 2022 anime film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.

Charles Martinet had stated in 2021 that he wanted to voice Mario for the rest of his life, and said that he would ask Nintendo to find a successor in the case he would think that he won't be able to do it anymore.

Charles Martinet has made regular appearances at game events such as Electronic Entertainment Expo, Gamescom, and the Eurogamer Expo, and at launch events of games like Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel.

In 2013, Charles Martinet was evicted from his home in Sausalito, California following a legal dispute with the family of the recently deceased landlord.

Dissatisfied with other homes in his price range, Charles Martinet remained homeless for the next five years, focusing his time on game events.

Charles Martinet, having spent a large portion of his youth in Europe, speaks fluent French and Spanish, as well as some Italian.