Charles Martinet
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Charles Martinet (born September 17, 1955, in San Jose, California) is a voice actor, best known for providing the voice of Mario, the star of Nintendo's flagship video game franchise. He also voices Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Toadsworth, and a select few other characters, all from the same series.
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[edit] Audition for Mario
Charles Martinet was told by his friend that there was going to be an audition for 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 said, "Can I please read for this?". The directors let him audition and explained, "You're a plumber from Brooklyn". At first Martinet planned to talk like a stereotypical Italian-American with a rather raspy voice. But then thought to himself that it would be too harsh for little children to hear. So he made it a little 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.[1]
[edit] Trade shows
Working for Nintendo since 1987, 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. This system was called "Mario in Real-Time," or "MIRT." 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 synchronise 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.
[edit] Video games
Martinet's video game voiceover 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. He has voiced Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Toadsworth, Baby Mario, and Baby Luigi 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.
Martinet also provided voiceover acting for the boxers and the announcer in the Super NES title Super Punch-Out!!. He also voiced the character Vigoro in Sega's Dreamcast and GameCube RPG, Skies of Arcadia. He is also the voice of Homunculus in the Konami PlayStation 2 game Shadow of Destiny, and provided voices for Reader Rabbit and The ClueFinders games.
Martinet has also worked as a voice actor in commercials, cartoons, and promotions. At the 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 also did Mario's voice as the voice announcer for Pac-Man Vs. on the GameCube.
Other than Mario, Charles has done work for the video game Cel Damage as the voice of Fowl Mouth.
Martinet has also done the primary voice work in several educational game series such as Leap Frog.
During E3, 2006, Martinet appeared on a human height LCD screen with the "MIRT" system, this can be seen on Gamespot's coverage of the Wii at E3.
On August 18, 2006, Martinet appeared as a guest celebrity at Nintendo Power's annual event, Camp Hyrule.
On March 9, 2007, Martinet appeared as a guest at the Video Games Live Concert in San Francisco, California, USA (alongside Koji Kondo and Shigeru Miyamoto), entering on stage using his trademark Mario and Luigi voices.
On November 15, 2007, Martinet made a guest appearance at the Game Store at Oxford Street UK launch of Super Mario Galaxy.
[edit] Filmography
- Brotherhood of Justice (1986) (TV) .... Deputy
- Hard Traveling (1986) .... Dist. Atty. Cobb
- The Dead Pool (1988) .... Police Station Reporter #1
- Midnight Caller .... Mark Heller (1 episode, 1989)
- Matlock .... Bo Edmunds (1 episode, 1989)
- Mom (1990) .... Mr. Hernandez
- The Last of His Tribe (1992) (TV) .... Assistant Museum Director
- Reasonable Doubts .... Bartender (1 episode, 1992)
- Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (1993) .... Pilot B
- Criminal Hearts (1995) (as Charles Martinez) .... Juan
- Compromising Situations .... Sal (1 episode, 1995)
- Nine Months (1995) .... Arnie
- Nash Bridges .... Hermsdorf (1 episode, 1996)
- Death in Granada (1997) .... Gravedigger
- The Game (1997) .... Nicholas' Father
- A Thousand Men and a Baby (1997) (TV) .... Seattle cab driver
- Sheer Passion (1998) .... Lou
- Air America .... David Dixon (1 episode, 1998)
- ER .... Eddy (1 episode, 2002)
- NYPD Blue .... Court Officer (1 episode, 2003)
- The Californians (2005) .... City Councilman
[edit] Video games
- Mario's FUNdamentals (1995) .... Mario, Luigi
- Space Quest VI: The Spinal Frontier (1995) .... Pa Conshohocken/Ray Trace/PiTooie
- Solar Eclipse (1995) .... Spinner
- Super Mario 64 (1996) .... Mario
- Mario Kart 64 (1996) .... Mario/Luigi/Wario
- Mario Party (1998) .... Mario, Luigi, Wario
- Rising Zan: The Samurai Gunman (1999) .... Master Suzuki
- Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance (1999) .... Adm. Holtz
- Super Smash Bros. (1999) (as Charles Martinee) .... Mario/Luigi
- Mario Golf (1999) .... Mario/Luigi/Wario
- Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time (1999) .... William Shakespeare/Ludwig van Beethoven
- Slave Zero (1999) .... Old One, Sangonar
- Mario Party 2 (1999) .... Mario, Luigi, Wario
- Mario Tennis (2000) .... Mario/Luigi/Wario/Waluigi
- Skies of Arcadia Legends (2000) .... Vigoro
- Mario Party 3 (2000) .... Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi
- Shadow of Destiny (2001) .... Homunculus
- Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds (2001) .... 2-1B, AT-AT driver/OOM-9
- Wario Land 4 (2001) .... Wario
- Super Mario Advance (2001) .... Mario/Luigi/Wart/Clawgrip/Tryclyde/Mouser
- Forever Kingdom (2001) .... Darsul
- Luigi's Mansion (2001) .... Luigi, Mario
- Mad Dash Racing (2001)
- Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001) .... Mario, Luigi, Dr. Mario
- Cel Damage (2001) .... Various
- Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 (2001) .... Mario, Luigi
- Wario World (2002) .... Wario
- JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future (2002) .... Gouji Rokkaku
- Star Wars: Jedi Knight II - Jedi Outcast (2002) .... Bespin guard 2/Civilian Male/Imperial Officer 2/Rebel Shock *Troop 3 .... Voice
- Super Mario Sunshine (2002) .... Mario, Toadsworth
- Mario Party 4 (2002) .... Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi
- Shinobi (2002) .... Voice
- WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! (2003) .... Wario
- Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (2003) .... Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi
- Gladius (2003) (voice) .... Additional Voices
- WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$! (2003) .... Wario
- Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (2003) .... Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi
- Mario Party 5 (2003) .... Mario/Luigi/Wario/Waluigi
- Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (2003) .... Mario, Luigi
- Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 (2003) .... Mario, Luigi
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (video game) (2003) (voice)
- Mario Golf: Advance Tour (2004) .... Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi
- Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2004) .... Mario
- Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004) .... Mario
- Mario Pinball Land (2004) .... Mario
- Mario Power Tennis (2004) .... Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi
- Super Mario 64 DS (2004) .... Mario/Luigi/Wario
- Mario Party 6 (2004) .... Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi
- Wario Ware Touched! (2005) .... Wario
- Yoshi Touch & Go (2005) .... Baby Mario, Baby Luigi
- Wario Ware Twisted! (2005) .... Wario
- Mario Superstar Baseball (2005) .... Mario, Luigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Toadsworth
- SSX on Tour (2005) .... Mario, Luigi
- Mario Kart DS (2005) .... Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi
- Mario Kart Arcade GP (2005) .... Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi
- Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (2005) .... Mario, Luigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi
- Super Mario Strikers (2005) .... Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi
- Mario Party 7 (2005) .... Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi
- Super Princess Peach (2006) (voice) .... Mario, Luigi
- New Super Mario Bros. (2006) (voice) .... Mario, Luigi
- Wario Ware Smooth Moves (2007) .... Wario
- Super Paper Mario (2007) .... Mario, Luigi
- Mario Strikers Charged (2007) .... Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi
- Mario Party 8 (2007) .... Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi,MC Ballyhoo
- World in Conflict (2007) (voice)
- Super Mario Galaxy (2007) .... Mario, Luigi
- Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (2007, 2008) .... Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi
- Mario Party DS (2007) .... Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008) .... Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi
- Mario Kart Wii (2008).... Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi
[edit] Upcoming video games
- Mario Super Sluggers , Wii (2008) Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi
- Dr. Mario Online Rx , Wii (2008) Dr. Mario
| Preceded by Walker Boone 1990-1992 Adventures of Super Mario Brothers 3 & Captain N & Super Mario World |
Voice of Mario 1996-present Multiple Mario video games |
Succeeded by Current Incumbent |
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Short clip of Martinet's Mario voice acting
- Charles Martinet at the Internet Movie Database
- CharlesMartinet.com
- The Sun Online interview and podcast. (Accessed 26-Jan-07. Note, second paragraph is erroneous paraphrasing of audio interview.)
