Gentarō Ishida was the birth name of the Japanese actor and voice actor professionally known as Tarō Ishida. Born in Kyoto, Japan on March 16, 1944, his career in entertainment spanned from 1960 until his passing in 2013. He was the son of actor Shigeki Ishida and was affiliated with the talent agency Granpapa Production. Beyond his work in voice acting, Ishida also served as a chief priest at the Jōkei-ji temple in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, following the Jōdo Shinshū tradition of Buddhism.

Ishida built an extensive resume in theatrical anime, where he performed under both his professional name, Tarō Ishida, and his birth name, Gentarō Ishida. In 1985, he voiced the roles of the monk Tenkai and the historical figure Saigō Takamori in the film The Dagger of Kamui. That same year, under the name Gentarō Ishida, he played Saint Asgard in the film Odin: Starlight Mutiny. Other significant animated film roles from this period include Zeda in Arcadia of My Youth (1982), Lugal in Final Yamato (1983), and the Narrator in the 1986 Fist of the North Star film. In later years, he was the voice of Colonel Shikishima in the landmark film Akira (1988), the Nightmare King in Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989), Duke Red in Metropolis (2001), and the villain Gasparde in the fourth One Piece film, Dead End Adventure (2003). One of his final film roles was Bishop Daimon in Brave Story (2006). In the OVA Utsunomiko, he provided the voice for Fujiwara no Fuhito.

His television anime work included roles such as Emperor Beld in Record of Lodoss War, Heydrich Lang in Legend of the Galactic Heroes, and Deneil Young in Space Brothers. He also appeared in long-running series like Black Jack and Detective Conan.

Ishida was also a prolific voice actor for Japanese dubbing of foreign media, lending his deep voice to the regular characters of several major Hollywood actors. He was the primary Japanese dub voice for Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, and Peter Falk. His notable dubbing roles included Lex Luthor in the TV Asahi dub of Superman II, Hannibal Lecter for the TV Asahi dub of The Silence of the Lambs and subsequent films in the series, and Lieutenant Columbo in the long-running detective series Columbo from its eighth season onward. He also famously voiced Jigsaw in the Saw film series, Treebeard in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and numerous Disney characters, including the regular Japanese voice of Eeyore in the Winnie the Pooh franchise and King Triton in The Little Mermaid.

In the realm of video games, he voiced King Triton and Eeyore in the Kingdom Hearts series and Exdeath in Dissidia: Final Fantasy. He also had roles in tokusatsu live-action productions, including Kamen Rider 555 and Juken Sentai Gekiranger, and appeared in many live-action Japanese films and television dramas such as Violent Cop (1989), the taiga drama Aoi (2000), and the acclaimed film Departures (2008). Tarō Ishida passed away on September 21, 2013, at the age of 69 due to a myocardial infarction.