Background and career
Kathleen Herles (born November 13, 1990) is an American voice actress best known for being the original voice of Dora on Dora the Explorer for the first four seasons.
Herles was born in the Queens borough of New York City to Peruvian parents. She has studied ballet, tap, jazz, drama, and voice acting. Herles was discovered by talent manager Shirley Grant of Shirley Grant Management at a talent and modeling convention when she was four years old. In 2007, Herles retired from voicing Dora to attend college at Pace University and was replaced by Caitlin Sanchez and Fatima Ptacek. However, her voice for the character was used in various media until 2009. Herles graduated from Pace University in 2012.
In 2007, Herles was nominated for an Imagen Award for Best Television Actress. She was nominated in 2007 and 2008 for an NAACP Image Award for NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Series or Special.
