Kate Shannon is a British voice artist known for her work in animation, dubbing, and radio, with a career that became particularly notable for originating the voice of the iconic video game character Lara Croft. Her professional focus has been on providing voices for cartoons, a field she described as her speciality, often performing multiple roles in a single series and using a variety of accents, particularly American ones.

Shannon began working in voice-over around eight years prior to a 1998 interview, entering the field through her friend, composer Mark Bradley. She became part of a small, close-knit group of about eight voice actors, including Stuart Milligan, who were regularly hired for dubbing projects. The nature of the work meant they often recorded separately, hearing each other only through headphones. Her voice work was frequently for animated series that were produced in countries like Japan and Spain, which were then dubbed into English for international distribution. Among the titles she worked on were Robin of the Forest, The Supermodels, Willy Fog, and a project about The Untouchables featuring a mouse character named Elliot Mouse. In Robin of the Forest, she voiced both Maid Marian and Will Scarlet, the latter of whom she portrayed with a vocal style inspired by Keanu Reeves. A specific credit from this period is the role of Bernard, also known as Little Zorro, in the English dub of the 1996-1997 anime series Kaiketsu Zorro, which was recorded at Village Productions in the UK.

Shannon's most prominent and career-defining role came when she provided the voice for the titular character in the original Tomb Raider video game, developed by Core Design. Contrary to an urban myth that the voice was provided by a company secretary, Shannon was a professional voice artist who had previously worked with the company on other projects, such as Machine Head in Swagman. The role involved collaboration with the game's designers to create a voice for Lara Croft that was English, inspired by actresses like Helena Bonham Carter but less prim. The actual recording for the game took place over several sessions, totaling roughly a day, as the script and ideas evolved. The phenomenal and unexpected success of Tomb Raider brought Shannon significant recognition and led to further work opportunities.

Beyond animation and video games, Shannon's career has also encompassed radio and theatre. She was interviewed in 1998 while working on The Gemini Apes, a BBC radio sci-fi play directed by Dirk Maggs and starring Christopher Lee, which was broadcast on Christmas Day. Her radio work also included classical pieces. In addition to her performance work, Shannon balanced her voice acting with theatre projects and, as of 1998, had opened a comedy club in Brixton called Top Dog Comedy.