Riccardo Mantani was an Italian theater and voice actor, born Riccardo Mantani Renzi on January 19, 1930, in Morciano di Romagna, Italy. He began studying acting at a young age after his family moved to Riccione when he was five. His career spanned several decades, during which he became a familiar voice to Italian audiences through his extensive work in dubbing foreign films and television series for the Italian market.

Mantani was also a dedicated stage actor and was a member of the Teatro dei Filodrammatici in Milan, where he performed in numerous theatrical productions. He passed away on March 2, 2013, in Riccione at the age of 83.

While his dubbing work covered a wide range of live-action productions, he is particularly well-remembered for his voice roles in anime series that were broadcast in Italy during the 1980s. He provided the Italian voice for the character known as Maestro in the long-running educational anime series Seimei no Kagaku Micro Patrol, known in Italian as Siamo fatti così. This series, which explored the human body, was highly popular and made his voice recognizable to a generation of viewers.

His other prominent anime roles include the character Nonno Sam in the various series of the Licia franchise, such as Kiss Me Licia, Love Me Licia, and Licia dolce Licia. He was also the voice of Giovanni Kazuki in Magica, magica Emi, the village chief in the Italian adaptation of Dragon Ball, and Bisnonno Bazzettini in the series Forza campioni. In addition to these, his voice appeared in other animated series like Jem, Piccola, bianca Sibert, and Viaggiando nel tempo.

Beyond animation, his dubbing credits included the 1985 edition of The Wizard of Oz, where he voiced Charley Grapewin as Uncle Henry, and the television miniseries Ricordi di guerra, in which he dubbed John Gielgud.