A veteran character actor in Mexican film and television, Martínez appeared in the occasional English-language film, with small parts in The Penitent (as a nurse, with Raul Julia) and Bandidas (as a banker, with Salma Hayek, Penelope Cruz, and Edgar Vivar). His Spanish-language films included Sexo Por Compasión, Por Si No Te Vuelvo a Ver, and the historical drama Zapata - El sueño del héroe (as Porfirio Diaz).