Mario voice actor, Charles Martinet Retires, becomes Mario Ambassador

Mario voice actor, Charles Martinet is done with recording voices.

As he moves into a new position, Charles Martinet, who has played Mario's distinctive voice for more than three decades, is "stepping back from recording character voices" for Nintendo.

As a "Mario Ambassador," Martinet will represent the gaming industry by visiting different countries and interacting with fans.

Martinet began working for Nintendo in 1991, and his first significant role as the moustachioed plumber was in Super Mario 64, a seminal 3D platformer that popularized Mario's joyful Italian accent.

In more than 150 Nintendo games, he is credited for providing the voices for Mario, as well as a few other Mushroom Kingdom explorers like Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi.

Martinet contributed to some of Nintendo's most well-known games, such as Mario Kart, Super Mario Galaxy, and Mario Party, by giving life to Mario's iconic catchphrases, such as "Let's-a go!" "Mamma Mia!" and "Wahoo!"

Even in this year's The Super Mario Bros. Movie, in which Chris Pratt replaced Martinet as Mario, Martinet made a fleeting cameo appearance.

"Charles Martinet has been the original voice of Mario in Nintendo games for a long time, as far back as Super Mario 64," Nintendo of America stated in a Tweet.

"Charles is now moving into the brand-new role of Mario Ambassador. With this transition, he will be stepping back from recording character voices for our games, but he’ll continue to travel the world sharing the joy of Mario and interacting with you all!"

The tweet further added, "It has been an honour working with Charles to help bring Mario to life for so many years and we want to thank and celebrate him. Please keep an eye out for a special video message from Shigeru Miyamoto and Charles himself, which we will post at a future date."

Martinet retweeted Nintendo’s statement on his Twitter handle, writing, "My new Adventure begins! You are all Numba One in my heart!"