Charles Martinet provides the voice for kids video game character Mario, aka Super Mario, as he will forever be known in my house. Mario turns 25 this year, and Martinet has enjoyed his years of providing the voice for Nintendo’s Mario, a plumber who is always having to abandon his work to run off and save a princess or something.  The Mario quiz on Yahoo’s frontpage today made us all a little nostalgic for the character.
Here’s seven things about the man behind the ‘toon, including his technological weakness and what his mom just can’t do.
1. His mom can’t use the computer. “I tried to teach my Mum how to work on a computer and it was like a foreign language to her,” he tells StuffTV.
2. He can’t program his remote – he leaves that up to his niece.
3. Marinet also provides the voice of Luigi, Mario’s twin brother (he’s a little leaner and dressed in green).
4. As anyone who had the original Nintendo can tell you, Super Mario wasn’t a big talked. Martinet began voicing him at trade shows in 1987.
5. When he auditioned for the part, he’d planned to use a thick, stereotypical Italian accent, but he softened his delivery because he didn’t want to scare kids.
6. He voiced the first video game in 1996.
7. Martinet has also appeared on the TV shows “Matlock,” “Nash Bridges” and “ER,” among others.