Masaaki Okabe was a Japanese voice actor and narrator born on February 16, 1932, in Hokkaido, Japan. He was a graduate of Hokkaido Gakugei University, now known as Hokkaido University of Education. His early career included affiliations with the NHK Sapporo Broadcast Drama Troupe, the theatrical group Engeki Shūdan Mito, and the Gekidan Ashura company, and he was a graduate of the Hokkaido Broadcasting Drama Institute. He was later affiliated with the talent management firm Haikyō.

Okabe's career was marked by extensive work in both anime and tokusatsu, where he was particularly renowned for his narration. He provided the narrator's voice for numerous tokusatsu series in the 1970s and 1990s, including Kikaider, Kikaider 01, Iron Man Tiger Seven, Denjin Zaboga, and七星闘神ガイファード. His distinctive narration also featured in the 1996 drama Sanctuary, where he voiced the character Shuichi Sakura.

In anime, Okabe took on a variety of character roles. He was the voice of Gengorō Jin in Invincible Superman Zambot 3 and Woody Malden in Mobile Suit Gundam II:哀・戦士編. He played Emperor Annex in the series Ninja Robots and voiced the character Wahlen in both the original Legend of the Galactic Heroes and its外伝 Spiral Labyrinth. Other notable anime roles included Inokuma Torajirō in YAWARA! and Entarō Yashiro in the Detective Conan film Strategy Above the Depths. He also contributed voices to the海外ドラマ 東京警備指令 ザ・ガードマン and provided Japanese dub-over voices for foreign films such as the original Star Wars trilogy.

In his later years, Okabe's professional focus shifted primarily to recitals and readings. His last known on-screen credit was in the 2009 animated film Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror.