Charles Martinet (born September 17, 1955) (/mɑrtɪˈneɪ/; [maʁtinɛ]) is an American actor and voice actor best known for voicing Mario in the Super Mario video game series. He has voiced Mario, the titular character in Nintendo's flagship video game franchise since 1995. He also voices Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Toadsworth, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, and others.

Biography

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

Martinet attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he originally intended to study international law. 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 him to take acting classes to combat his fear of public speaking. His first role was a monologue from the Spoon River Anthology. Eventually, Martinet earned an apprenticeship at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. After training with the Berkeley Rep for several years, Martinet went to London to attended the Drama Studio London, where among other skills, he discovered his talent for accents and dialects. 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.