Oscar Martinez (The Office)

Oscar Martinez
Oscar Nunez as Oscar Martínez
First appearance	"Pilot"
Last appearance	"Finale"
Created by	Greg Daniels
Portrayed by	Oscar Nunez
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Accountant, Dunder Mifflin, Scranton
Family	Unnamed nephew Unnamed mother
Significant other(s)	Gill (ex-boyfriend) Senator Lipton
Nationality	American

Gill (ex-boyfriend)

Oscar San Juan Martinez is a fictional character from the US mockumentary-style television series The Office played by Cuban actor Oscar Nunez. Martinez was one of the few openly gay characters in broadcast television at the time that the series aired. Although Nunez, who is straight, did not know his character might be gay when he first signed on, he has no issues with the character's sexuality as long as the material is funny. For the 2006–2007 season, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) reported he was the only LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) person of color character on a regular series. For the 2007–2008 season he was the "only remaining gay character on a half-hour comedy program" and the only LGBT lead or supporting character who is a person of color. For the 2009–2010 season, Martinez was one of four people of color LGBT regular series characters; in 2010–2011 there were six and in 2011–2012 there were five.

Martinez is an accountant at the Scranton, Pennsylvania, office of the paper distribution company Dunder Mifflin and gets his first name from Núñez; series producer Greg Daniels felt that "Oscar" sounded like a good accountant's name. He is a first-generation Mexican American. He is also openly gay after being outed by his then boss Michael Scott in "Gay Witch Hunt", the third-season premiere episode devoted to the outing. However, the character was implied to be gay in the second-season episode "The Secret", when Dwight catches him faking sickness to spend the day with his boyfriend (Dwight remains oblivious to this detail as he was obsessed with proving that Oscar was not ill). As a result, in earlier episodes, many co-workers erroneously attribute to him various Mexican stereotypes (e.g. being involved in drug cartels) but after his outing, his stereotypes are more focused on his being gay, particularly by Michael, which may explain their conflicted relationship. Núñez explained in a 2008 interview that the character variously feels amusement, pity and hatred towards his fictional boss. He has no specific counterpart in the original British series.