Gorō Naya was a prominent Japanese actor, voice actor, narrator, and theatre director, whose career spanned over six decades from 1951 until his passing in 2012. He was born on November 17, 1929, in Hakodate, Hokkaidō, and was a longtime member of the Theatre Echo company. Naya passed away on March 5, 2013, at the age of 83 due to chronic respiratory failure. His younger brother, Rokurō Naya, was also a well-known voice actor.

Naya is best known for his long-standing role as Inspector Koichi Zenigata in the Lupin III franchise, a character he voiced for nearly four decades. He first took on the role in the 1971 television series and continued to portray the tenacious inspector in numerous TV specials and films, including The Castle of Cagliostro, Farewell to Nostradamus, and Island of Assassins, until stepping down from the role in 2010. Interestingly, his first involvement with the franchise was voicing Goemon Ishikawa in the 1969 pilot film. His portrayal of Zenigata became iconic, and he shared a close friendship with Yasuo Yamada, the first voice of Lupin III.

Beyond Lupin III, Naya had a profound impact on Japanese popular culture through his work in anime and tokusatsu. He was the original voice of Captain Juzo Okita in the seminal Space Battleship Yamato series. He was also a recurring presence in the Kamen Rider Series, famously providing the voice for various incarnations of the Great Leader across multiple shows and films from the 1971 original to Kamen Rider: The Next in 2007. His distinctive, authoritative voice also made him a frequent choice for narration, as seen in series like Casshan. His filmography includes a wide array of other notable roles, such as Lord Yupa in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Willibald Joachim von Merkatz in Legend of the Galactic Heroes, and Crocus in One Piece.

In addition to his work in original Japanese animation, Naya was a pioneer in the field of dubbing foreign films and television series for a Japanese audience. He became the official Japanese dubbing voice for several major Hollywood stars, most notably John Wayne, Charlton Heston, and Clark Gable. He also provided the Japanese voice for Alec Guinness's Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars trilogy for the video and DVD releases.