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Charles Martinet

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Charles Martinet
Martinet at Game World 2010
Born
Charles Andre Martinet

(1955-09-17) September 17, 1955 (age 69)
San Jose, California, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley
Occupation(s)Actor, voice actor
Years active1986–present
Known forThe voice of Mario
Notable workMario series
WebsiteCharlesMartinet.com

Charles Andre Martinet (/ˈmɑːrtɪneɪ/;[1] French: [maʁtinɛ]; born September 17, 1955) is an American actor and voice actor. He is best known for voicing Mario in the Super Mario video game series. Martinet has voiced this title character of Nintendo's flagship video game franchise since 1990, and he also voices related characters such as Baby Mario, Luigi, Baby Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, and Toadsworth.

Early life

Martinet is of French descent and speaks fluent French[2] and Spanish. His family moved to Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, when he was 12 years old, and later to Paris, France.[3] He attended the American School of Paris and graduated in 1974.[4]

Martinet attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he originally intended to study international law. In his senior year he decided to discontinue his studies after a tutor told him to "regurgitate information he'd written in his book, chapter-by-chapter". A friend suggested to him to take acting classes to combat his fear of public speaking. His first role was a monologue from the Spoon River Anthology.[3] Eventually, Martinet earned an apprenticeship at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. After training with the Berkeley Rep for several years, Martinet went to London to attend the Drama Studio London, where among other skills, he discovered his talent for accents and dialects.[3] Upon returning to California he joined the Berkeley Reparatory Theatre. He went on to become a founding member of the San Jose Repertory Theatre for four years.[3]

Career

Working for Nintendo since 1990, Martinet started voicing Mario at video game trade shows in which attendees would walk up to a TV screen displaying a 3-D Mario head that moved around the screen and talked.[5] This system was called Mario in Real-Time or MIRT and was developed by Pasadena based SimGraphics.[5] Martinet could see the attendees by means of a hidden camera setup, and a facial motion capture rig recorded his mouth movements in order to synchronize Martinet's mouth movement with the on-screen Mario mouth movement. This digital puppetry, with Martinet's comic performance, was a novelty at the time.[citation needed]

Martinet earned the job when, one day, he was told by his friend that there was going to be an audition at a trade show in which you "talk to people as a plumber". He went to the audition at the last minute as the casting directors were already putting away their equipment. Charles Martinet walked in and asked, "Can I please read for this?". The directors let him audition and told him, "You're an Italian plumber from Brooklyn". At first Martinet planned to talk like a stereotypical Italian American with a deep, raspy voice (which is how Mario sounded in the Super Mario Bros. Super Show, Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World cartoons). He 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. Martinet has also stated that he kept on talking with his Mario voice until the audition tape ran out.[6] He says that Petruchio from William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew was an inspiration for his portrayal of Mario.[5]

Martinet's video game voice over debut was as Mario in the 1995 Windows release of Interplay's game Mario's FUNdamentals. However, most were first exposed to Mario's voice in the landmark 1996 game Super Mario 64. During the recording session, he and a few developers wondered what Mario would do when the player leaves him alone. In the end, Martinet came up with the idea that Mario would dream of pasta during his sleep and Mario says "Nice nighty. Ahhh spaghetti, ahhh ravioli, ahhh mamma mia." when Mario is in his second sleeping position.[7] He has voiced Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Toadsworth, Metal Mario, Shadow Mario,[8] Piantas (Male), Mini-Mario Toys, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi and Baby Wario in most games wherein these characters speak. He also voiced the enemies Wart, Mouser, Tryclyde, and Clawgrip in Super Mario Advance. His voice work appears in the English and Japanese language versions of the games. With his work as Mario in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the Guinness Book of World Records recognized Martinet for having performed the same character in one hundred different titles, the most of any video game voice actor.[9]

Martinet provided voiceover acting for the boxers and the announcer in the Super NES title Super Punch-Out!!. He voiced the character Vigoro in Sega's Dreamcast and Nintendo GameCube role-playing video game, Skies of Arcadia. He 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. Charles Martinet wanted to voice Link in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but Shigeru Miyamoto told him that Link would remain without a voice. However Link's grunts have been voiced by various Japanese voice actors.

In addition to video game voice overs, Martinet has worked as a voice actor in commercials, cartoons, and promotions. At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) trade show in 2005, Charles (as an Animal Crossing character) could be found roaming the virtual village featured in the playable demo of Animal Crossing: Wild World. Martinet did Mario's voice as the announcer for Pac-Man Vs. on the Nintendo GameCube.

Other than the Mario series, Charles has also done work for the video game Cel Damage as the voice of Fowl Mouth, as well as the primary voice work in several educational game series such as LeapFrog.[8] He also voiced the dragon Paarthurnax in the 2011 video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Orvus in 2009's Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, and narrated the cutscenes and menus for the 2013 video game Runner2[10] and Runner3, appearing as a hidden playable character in the latter.

Public appearances

As the voice of Mario, Martinet has become a well-known personality and has made public appearances at several video game related events where he meets fans for chat, photographs, and autographs. He 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.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1986 Hard Traveling Dist. Atty. Cobb
1988 The Dead Pool Police Station Reporter #1 [11]
1991 Mom Mr. Hernandez Credited as Charles Martinez
1995 Nine Months Arnie [12] Credited as Charles A. Martinet
1996 Criminal Hearts Juan Credited as Charles Martinez
1996 The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca Gravedigger Credited as Charles Martinez
1997 Beauty and the Beast Red-Suited Ghost (voice) Direct-to-video
1997 Anastasia Yellow Bird / Pierre / General / Rasputin's Dog (voice) Direct-to-video
(uncredited)
Also screenplay
1997 The Game Nicholas' Father [12]
1998 Sheer Passion Lou Credited as Charles Martinez
2004 Little Angels: The Brightest Christmas (Voice) Direct-to-video
2005 The Californians City Councilman

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1986 Brotherhood of Justice Deputy [11] TV Movie
1989 Matlock Bo Edmunds Episode: "The Captain"
Credited as Charles Martinez
1989 Midnight Caller Mark Heller [12] Episode: "Blood Red"
1992 The Last of His Tribe Assistant Museum Director [12] TV Movie
1992 Reasonable Doubts Bartender Episode: "Lifelines: Part 1"
1992 Bay City Story Art Ronstadt TV Movie
1995 Compromising Situations Sal Episode: "Vegas"Credited as Charles Martinez
1996–1998 Nash Bridges Jean-Yves / Tony / Hermsdorf [12] 3 Episodes
1997 A Thousand Men and a Baby Seattle cab driver TV Movie as Charles Martinez
1998 Air America David Dixon Episode: "Fever"
2004 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Wilson Phillips (voice) [13] English Dub
Episode: "Dio's World: Kakyoin - Duel in the Barrier"
2018–present Rockin' South Mr. Unknown / Lawrence Levingston Main role

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
1992 Mario Teaches Typing Mario (voice) CD-ROM version only
1994 Super Punch-Out!! Announcer / Referee / Boxers (voice)
1995 Mario's Game Gallery Mario (voice)
Solar Eclipse Spinner
Space Quest 6 Pa Conshohocken / Ray Trace / PiTooie (voice)
1996 Super Mario 64 Mario / Metal Mario (voice) [14]
Mario Teaches Typing 2 Mario (voice) Uncredited
Mario Kart 64 Mario / Luigi / Wario (voice) English Dub
Credited as Charles Martinee
1998 Mario Party Mario (voice) Credited as Charles Martinee
1999 The ClueFinders Math Adventures The Guide (voice)
Super Smash Bros. Mario / Luigi (voice) Credited as Charles Martinee
Mario Golf Mario / Luigi / Baby Mario / Wario / Metal Mario (voice)
Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time William Shakespeare / Ludwig van Beethoven (voice)
Slave Zero Old One, Sangonar (voice)
Mario Party 2 Mario (voice)
Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance Admiral Holtz / Rebel Pilot (voice) [14]
Rising Zan: The Samurai Gunman Master Suzuki (voice)
2000 Mario Tennis Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Baby Mario (voice)
Skies of Arcadia Vigoro (voice) English version [14]
Mario Party 3 Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Baby Mario (voice)
2001 Super Mario Advance Mario / Luigi / Clawgrip / Triclyde / Mouser / Fryguy / Wart (voice ) Uncredited
Dr. Mario 64 Dr. Mario / Wario / Metal Mario / Vampire Wario (voice)
Forever Kingdom Darsul (voice) English version
Wario Land 4 Wario (voice)
Luigi's Mansion Luigi / Mario (voice)
Cel Damage Various (voice)
Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds 2-1B / AT-AT Driver / OOM-9 (voice)
Mad Dash Racing (voice)
Super Smash Bros. Melee Mario / Luigi / Dr. Mario (voice)
Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 Mario / Luigi (voice) Uncredited
The ClueFinders: The Incredible Toy Store Adventure! Pericles Lear (Voice)
Shadow of Memories Homunculus (voice) [14]
2002 Jet Set Radio Future Gouji Rokkaku (voice)
Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast Bespin Cop 2 / Civilian Male / Imperial Officer 2 / Rebel Shock Troop 3 (voice)
Super Mario Sunshine Mario / Toadsworth / Isle Delfino Commercial / Male Piantas/ Pianta Attorney (voice)
Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 Baby Mario (voice) Uncredited
Mario Party 4 Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi (voice)
Shinobi Additional voices English version [14]
2003 WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames! Wario (voice) Uncredited
Wario World
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 Mario / Luigi (voice) Uncredited
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Shadow Mario (voice)
Gladius Additional Voices
WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Games! Wario (voice)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Easterlings (voice)
Mario Kart: Double Dash Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Baby Mario / Baby Luigi(voice)
Mario Party 5 Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi (voice) Uncredited
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga Mario / Luigi (voice)
2004 Mario Golf: Advance Tour Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi (voice)
Mario vs. Donkey Kong Mario / Mini Mario (voice) [14]
Paper Mario Mario (voice)
Mario Pinball Land [14]
WarioWare: Twisted! Wario (voice)
Mario Power Tennis Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Toadsworth (voice)
The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age Eaoden / Gimli (voice)
Mario Party 6 Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi (voice) Uncredited
Super Mario 64 DS Mario / Luigi / Wario (voice)
WarioWare: Touched! Wario (voice)
2005 Virtua Quest Announcer / Snake Eyes / Lau Chan / Shun Di (voice) English version[15]
Yoshi Touch & Go Baby Mario (voice)
Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix Mario / Luigi / Waluigi / Wario (voice) Uncredited
Mario Superstar Baseball Mario / Luigi / Baby Mario / Baby Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Toadsworth / Piantas (voice)
Mario Tennis Advance Mario / Luigi / Waluigi (voice)
SSX on Tour Mario (voice)
Super Princess Peach
Mario Party 7 Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Toadsworth (voice) Uncredited
Mario Kart DS Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi (voice)
Mario Kart Arcade GP
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time Mario / Luigi / Baby Mario / Baby Luigi (voice)
Super Mario Strikers Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi (voice)
2006 New Super Mario Bros. Mario / Luigi (voice)
Mario Hoops 3-on-3 Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi (voice)
Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis Mario / Mini Mario (voice) Uncredited
Yoshi's Island DS Baby Mario / Baby Wario (voice)
WarioWare: Smooth Moves Wario (voice)
2007 Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 Mario (voice) Uncredited
Wario: Master of Disguise Wario (voice)
Super Paper Mario Mario / Luigi (voice)
Mario Strikers Charged Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi (voice)
Mario Party 8 Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Big Top / Piantas (voice)
World in Conflict (voice)
Super Mario Galaxy Mario / Luigi (voice)
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi (voice)
Mario Party DS
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men The Elder Brother / Vaultbreaker (voice)
2008 Super Smash Bros. Brawl Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi (voice)
Mario Kart Wii Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Baby Mario / Baby Luigi(voice)
Mario Super Sluggers Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Baby Mario / Baby Luigi / Toadsworth / Piantas (voice)
Hellboy: The Science of Evil Additional Voices
Wario Land: Shake It! Wario (voice)
Aion: The Tower of Eternity (voice)
WarioWare: Snapped! Wario (voice)
2009 Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story Mario / Luigi (voice) (voice)
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! Mario / Mini Mario (voice) Uncredited
Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time Orvus (voice) [14]
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi (voice)
New Super Mario Bros. Wii Mario / Luigi (voice)
2010 Resonance of Fate Cardinal Lagerfeld (voice) English version [14]
Super Mario Galaxy 2 Mario / Luigi (voice)
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem! Mario / Mini Mario (voice) Uncredited
Mario Sports Mix Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi (voice)
WarioWare D.I.Y. Wario (voice)
2011 Super Mario 3D Land Mario / Luigi (voice) Uncredited
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Paarthurnax (voice) [14]
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi (voice)
Mario Kart 7 Mario / Luigi / Wario / Metal Mario (voice) Uncredited
Fortune Street Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi (voice)
2012 Mario Party 9 Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Pianta (voice)
Mario Tennis Open Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Baby Mario (voice)
New Super Mario Bros. 2 Mario (voice) Uncredited
New Super Mario Bros. U Mario / Luigi (voice)
2013 Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon Luigi / Mario (voice)
Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move Mario / Mini Mario (voice) Uncredited
New Super Luigi U Luigi (voice)
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Bros. Mario / Luigi (voice)
Mario Kart Arcade GP DX Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi (voice)
Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games
Super Mario 3D World Mario / Luigi (voice)
Mario Party: Island Tour Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi (voice)
Yoshi's New Island Baby Mario (voice) Uncredited
Runner2 Narrator
2014 Mario Golf: World Tour Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Gold Mario (voice)
Mario Kart 8 Mario / Luigi / Baby Mario / Baby Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Metal Mario (voice) Uncredited
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Mario / Luigi / Dr. Mario / Wario / Waluigi (voice)
2015 Luigi's Mansion Arcade Luigi (voice)
Mario Party 10 Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi (voice)
Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Mario / Luigi (voice)
2016 Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi (voice)
Paper Mario: Color Splash Mario / Luigi (voice)
Mario Party: Star Rush Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi (voice)
Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS Mario (voice)
2017 Mario Sports Superstars Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Baby Mario / Baby Luigi (voice)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Mario / Luigi / Baby Mario / Baby Luigi / Wario / Waluigi / Metal Mario / Gold Mario (voice)
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Mario / Luigi (voice) [14]
Super Mario Odyssey [14]
2018 Runner3 Narrator, playable character [16]
WarioWare Gold Wario (voice)
Super Mario Party Mario / Luigi / Wario / Waluigi (voice)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Mario, Luigi, Dr. Mario, Wario, Waluigi (voice) [14]

References

  1. ^ "It's-a Me, Mario!" on YouTube
  2. ^ Interview in French for Express magazine on YouTube
  3. ^ a b c d "CHARLES MARTINET". SacAnime. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  4. ^ "American School of Paris Aspire". 1974.
  5. ^ a b c Savage, Mark (30 September 2012). "The actors hiding inside your video games". BBC. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  6. ^ The Voice of Mario - Charles Martinet Interview on YouTube (at 2:20 mark)
  7. ^ "Mario 64 - Mario Sleeping". YouTube. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  8. ^ a b charlesmartinet.com - Charles Martinet Voice Over
  9. ^ Barsanti, Sam (December 15, 2018). "Charles Martinet now holds a Guinness record for voicing Super Mario 100 times". The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  10. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-01-22. Retrieved 2013-03-15. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ^ a b http://charlesmartinet.com/resume.html
  12. ^ a b c d e http://charlesmartinet.com/actor.html
  13. ^ http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Charles-Martinet/
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Behind The Voice Actors – Charles Martinet". Behind The Voice Actors. – green check mark indicates roles that have been verified by BTVA through closing credits
  15. ^ "Virtua Quest voice cast". Album on Imgur. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  16. ^ "Charles Martinet on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-05-04.
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