Kaoru Katakai is a Japanese voice actress, or seiyuu, born on April 4th in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. She is affiliated with the talent agency Kenyu Office. Her career in voice acting began in the 2000s after she graduated from the Visual Techno Academia and completed the Katou Kenichi Office Actors Classroom as a fourth-term student. Before joining her current agency, she was previously associated with the talent agencies Vive and Dojinsha Production.

Katakai is widely recognized for her warm and steady voice, which is frequently cast for roles depicting mothers, grandmothers, and other mature women. This has made her a familiar presence in numerous anime series as a reliable "specialist in elder characters". One notable example of such a role is Okaa-san, the head of the Maiko House, in the 2021 anime series Kiyo in Kyoto: From the Maiko House. Her extensive filmography also includes roles in major productions such as the landlady in Pluto, Wakako in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, an old woman in Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, and Mitsu in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Earlier in her career, she appeared in series like Shiki, Deadman Wonderland, and Hanasaku Iroha: Blossoms for Tomorrow.

Beyond anime, her voice work extends to video games and the Japanese dubbing of foreign films and television series. She has lent her voice to characters in popular games such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Yakuza Kiwami 2, and the Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. Her dubbing work includes providing Japanese voices for characters in productions like Avatar, the Downton Abbey series, and Sex and the City. She is also known for being the official voice of Moominmamma in live shows at the Moomin Valley Park theme park.

Katakai's voice is characterized as being in the alto to mezzo-soprano range. Her personal interests include cats, knitting, and collecting teddy bears and Monchhichi dolls. She also possesses the skill of singing enka, a traditional Japanese music genre.