Giorgio Favretto was an Italian actor and voice actor, born in Rijeka (now in Croatia) on December 5, 1941. He died on January 23, 2025. A 1964 graduate of Rome's National Academy of Dramatic Arts Silvio D'Amico, Favretto began his career on stage and in television, with early roles including Maximilien in the 1966 television drama The Count of Monte Cristo.

Favretto's most significant and enduring contribution to anime in Italy was his work on the series Star Blazers, known in Japan as Space Battleship Yamato. He was responsible for adapting the dialogues and directing the dubbing for all three seasons of the classic anime. In this capacity, he was tasked with assembling the voice cast for the initial Roman dubbing in 1979 and 1980. As was common practice at the time, the limited number of voice actors led to them voicing multiple characters. Favretto himself provided the Italian voice for the character Mark Venture, known as Daisuke Shima in the original, across all three series. For the first two seasons, produced by the cooperative Sincrovox, he voiced Mark Venture and also took on other roles. For the third season, dubbed later in Milan by Procida s.r.l., he once again voiced Mark Venture and also took over the role of the robot IQ9.

Beyond his defining work on Star Blazers, Favretto lent his voice to other anime series and films. He voiced characters in series such as B-Legend! Battle Bedaman, Umi no Triton, and provided Italian dialogue for Daa! Daa! Daa! and Petite Princess Yucie. In the world of Studio Ghibli films, his voice can be heard in several Italian dubs. He voiced Inugami Gyobu in Pom Poko, a character in Spirited Away for its 2014 redub, and the head director Tokumaru in From Up on Poppy Hill.

As a dubbing director and dialogue adapter, his work extended beyond the anime genre to include numerous live-action films and television series. Throughout his long career, he also dubbed many foreign actors for the Italian market, including Lee Majors, Luis Guzmán, and Mitchell Ryan. His version of the character Mark Venture in Star Blazers remains his most recognized and celebrated role in Italian animation, a legacy that continues to be appreciated by fans through home video releases.