Anyone who has played videogames knows who Mario is and how iconic his voice is to videogames. However, most people don’t know that Mario’s voice actor, Charles Martinet, has been the same for over two decades until now. Martinet has officially retired after 27 years of being the main voice actor for Mario. 

Martinet was born on September 17, 1955, and is most famous for voicing most of the Super Mario Bros. characters. The characters he has voiced includes Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi. He earned the job in 1991 when doing an audition for the first 3D game in the Mario series, Super Mario 64, and became the perfect candidate for voicing Mario. He never thought he was going to be voicing him for as long as he would.

Although he’s mainly known for playing Mario, he has played other characters from different franchises and games. A few examples are: Paarthurnax in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Arnie from the movie Nine Months, Commander Magenta in Dragon Ball Super: Superhero, and his latest and possible final role as Mario’s father in The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023). Fans of his voice acting could recognize any role he played.

Unfortunately, Nintendo has confirmed that he will not be voicing Mario in the newest game coming in October, Super Mario Bros. Wonder. They also haven’t told anyone who is Mario’s new voice actor let alone any of the other characters Martinet voiced. Even though Martinet is done voicing Mario officially, he is not done with Super Mario franchise. He will hold Nintendo’s new role of Mario Ambassador, where he will be traveling around the world for special Nintendo events and bring joy and interaction to fans. He has given most gamers around the world a childhood that they will never forget and will forever cherish. We thank Charles Martinet for playing such an iconic character throughout our childhood and wish him the best of luck being the new Mario Ambassador.