Maile Flanagan is an American actress and comedian widely recognized for her prolific work in voice acting, particularly as the English-language voice of Naruto Uzumaki in the long-running anime franchise Naruto. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on May 19, 1965, she spent part of her childhood in Thailand and Germany before her family settled in the United States. She graduated from Boston College with a degree in political science.

Flanagan's career began in improvisational comedy and theater. After performing with the comedy troupe Every Mother's Nightmare in Minneapolis, she moved to Los Angeles in 1996 with a stage production that won an LA Weekly Theater Award. Her early on-screen work included guest appearances on television series such as ER and The Office, as well as roles in films like Phone Booth and Evan Almighty.

Her breakthrough in voice acting came with the role of the title character, Piggley Winks, in the children's animated series Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks, which aired from 2003 to 2006. This performance earned her a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program in 2006, in addition to a previous Annie Award nomination for the same role.

In 2005, Flanagan was cast as Naruto Uzumaki, the energetic young ninja protagonist, for the English-language adaptation of the anime series Naruto. This role would become her most iconic and enduring, as she has continued to voice the character across all subsequent installments of the franchise. Her work includes the sequel series Naruto: Shippuden and Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, numerous feature films such as The Last: Naruto the Movie and Boruto: Naruto the Movie, and a vast array of video games. Her portrayal of Naruto across more than 700 episodes and over fifteen years has made her a central figure in the anime community.

Beyond the Naruto franchise, Flanagan has demonstrated her vocal versatility in other animated projects. She voiced Mother Aardvark in the animated film Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and the character Lucky in the film Rango. In recent years, she has provided the voice for Matt Hornsby in the Adult Swim animated series Royal Crackers.

Concurrent with her voice acting career, Flanagan has maintained a steady presence in live-action television. From 2012 to 2016, she held a recurring role as Principal Terry Perry on the Disney XD series Lab Rats, a part she later reprised in its spin-off, Lab Rats: Elite Force. She also had recurring roles in the Showtime series Shameless and the ABC sitcom Not Dead Yet. Her extensive body of work spans animation, live-action comedy, and drama, establishing her as a versatile and accomplished performer.