Kevin Conroy

Kevin Conroy (November 30, 1955 - November 10, 2022) was an American actor of stage, screen and voice, best known for his voice role as Batman in numerous animated television series, feature films, and video games that comprised the DC Animated Universe.

Early life
Born in Westbury, New York, Conroy moved to Westport, Connecticut when he was about 11 years old. He moved to New York in 1973 when he earned a full scholarship to attend Juilliard's famous drama division, where he studied under actor John Houseman. While there, he almost ended up living with future Superman actor Christopher Reeve, but ended up rooming with Robin Williams who was in the same group as both Kevin and Kelsey Grammer. In 1978, after graduating from Juilliard, he toured with The Acting Company, Houseman's acting group, and, in 1979, he went on the national tour of Ira Levin's Deathtrap.

Career
In 1980, he decided to try his hand in television, and moved out to California. He landed a role in the daytime soap opera Another World. He became associated with the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California, where he performed in productions of Hamlet and A Midsummer Night's Dream. From 1980 to 1985, he acted in a variety of contemporary and classic theatre pieces, including the Broadway productions of Eastern Standard and Edward Albee's adaptation of Lolita. In 1984, he played the title role in Hamlet in the New York Shakespeare Festival. He returned to television in the 1985 TV movie Covenant, and had a role on another daytime soap drama, Search For Tomorrow. He was a series regular on Ohara in 1987, and on Tour of Duty from 1987 to 1988, before starring in a series of television movies. He has also guest starred on shows such as Cheers, Dynasty, Search For Tomorrow, and Matlock.

He almost landed the part of Joe Hackett on the NBC sitcom Wings, but lost out to Tim Daly (who coincidentally, as a voice actor, later portrayed Superman in The WB's Superman: The Animated Series). He was confirmed to be performing on the fourth season of The Venture Bros. as Captain Sunshine, a caricature of Batman and Superman.

Batman
Vocally, Kevin Conroy is best known to audiences for his role as Batman in Batman: The Animated Series (1992–1995). Conroy continued to voice-play Batman in the subsequent series The New Batman Adventures (1997–1999), Batman Beyond (1999–2001), Justice League (2001–2004), and Justice League Unlimited (2004–2006), all of which take place in the same continuity, commonly referred to as the DC Animated Universe (DCAU). His tenure in the role also includes the DCAU films Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero (1998), Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000), and Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003). He also played Batman for the character's guest appearances in Superman: The Animated Series, Static Shock and The Zeta Project. Apart from the DCAU, Conroy has also portrayed Batman in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies Batman: Gotham Knight (2008), Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009), and Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010).

Conroy is well remembered by fans for being the first person in animation to use two distinct voices to portray Bruce Wayne and Batman, which was Conroy's idea. In a tally of performances that include every episode, movie, and guest appearance made as Batman, Conroy has portrayed the superhero longer than any other actor in either live-action or animation.

Additionally, he also portrayed Batman in the video games The Adventures of Batman and Robin (1994), Batman Vengeance (2001), Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu (2003), and Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009) and he reprised his role in the game's sequel Batman: Arkham City (2011), as well as the 2001 revamp of Batman Adventure - The Ride, located at the Warner Bros. Movie World theme park in Queensland, Australia. Conroy also portrayed Batman alongside his DCAU co-star Mark Hamill as The Joker and Jason Hillhouse as Dick Grayson in a feature of a storyboard scene included in the 2005 Special Edition DVD of Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film. This scene depicted the origin of Robin, which wasn't filmed because the filmmakers ultimately felt it was out of place with the rest of the film. In the season four premiere of The Batman, an animated series unrelated to the DCAU, Conroy portrayed Robin's father, John Grayson. Conroy also voiced the Phantom Stranger and an alternate Batman in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, another animated series unrelated to the DCAU. He also portrayed Batman in the online video game: DC Universe Online.

Personal life
Conroy's hobbies included traveling, running, cycling, and painting. In his spare time, he also did work with foster kids. He has two brothers and one sister, as well as a chocolate Labrador named Bear.

In recent years, he pursued a writing career.

He took part in the California AIDSRide from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City, Conroy helped out in the relief efforts by volunteering to do cooking duties for officers and firefighters. On the Batman: Gotham Knight DVD's commentary, he told the story about it, and how another cook found out he was the voice of Batman. He asked if he could tell everyone, and Conroy agreed, though he thought no one would even know who he was. At the other cook's urging, Conroy yelled in the voice of Batman, "I am vengeance! I am the night! I... am... Batman!" (a line he had famously delivered in the episode "Nothing to Fear" from Batman: The Animated Series) eliciting cheers from the first responders eating at the relief center. They began telling him what their favorite episodes were, and how they had watched the show with their kids. He said it was the first time he had seen any of them smile or laugh since the attacks a week earlier.

Conroy was gay. As part of DC Comics' 2022 Pride anthology, Conroy wrote "Finding Batman", a story that recounted his life and experiences as a gay man. It received critical acclaim upon release. He was married to Vaughn C. Williams at the time of his death.

Conroy died from cancer on November 10, 2022, at the age of 66.

Filmography

 * How To Pick Up Girls! (1978; TV movie) - Bartender
 * Another World (1980–1981; TV series) - Jerry Grove #2
 * Born Beautiful (1982; TV movie) - Stan
 * Kennedy (1983; TV mini-series) - Ted Kennedy
 * George Washington (1984; TV mini-series) - John Laurens
 * Search For Tomorrow (1984–1985; TV series) - Chase Kendall
 * Covenant (1985; TV movie) - Stephen
 * Dynasty (1985–1986; TV series) - Bart Fallmont
 * Ohara (1987; TV series) - Capt. Lloyd Hamilton
 * Tour of Duty (1987–1988; TV series) - Capt. Rusty Wallace
 * Killer Instinct (1988; TV movie) - Dr. Steven Nelson
 * So Proudly We Hail (1990; TV movie) - Francis Crosby
 * The Face of Fear (1990; TV movie) - Frank Dwight Bollinger
 * Hi, Honey - I'm Dead (1991; TV Movie) - Brad Stadler
 * Battle in the Errogenous Zone (1992; TV movie) - Mondo Ray
 * The Secret Passion of Robert Clayton (1992; TV movie) - Hunter Roy Evans
 * Chain of Desire (1992) - Joe
 * Rachel Gunn, R.N. (1992; TV series) - Dr. David Dunkle
 * Batman: The Animated Series (1992–1995; TV series) - Bruce Wayne/Batman and Dr. Thomas Wayne
 * Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993; theatrical film) - Bruce Wayne/Batman
 * The Adventures of Batman and Robin (1994; video game) - Batman
 * Island City (1994; TV movie) - Col. Tom Valdoon
 * The Office (1995; TV series) - Steve Gillman
 * Superman: The Animated Series (1997, 1998, 1999; TV series) - Bruce Wayne/Batman (guest appearances)
 * The New Batman Adventures (1997–1999; TV series) - Bruce Wayne/Batman
 * Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero (1998; DTV film) - Bruce Wayne/Batman
 * Crusaders of Might and Magic (1999; video game) - Drake
 * Batman Beyond (1999–2001; TV series) - Bruce Wayne
 * Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000; DTV film) - Bruce Wayne/Batman
 * The Zeta Project (2001; TV series) - Bruce Wayne (guest star; episode: "Shadows")
 * Batman Vengeance (2001; video game) - Batman
 * Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (2001; video game) - Fisherman
 * Justice League (2001–2004; TV series) - Bruce Wayne/Batman
 * Static Shock (2002, 2003, 2004; TV series) - Bruce Wayne/Batman (guest appearances)
 * Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (2003; video game) - Lord Jack/Cleaner/Commando
 * Lords of EverQuest (2003; video game) - Lord Palasa
 * Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu (2003; video game) - Batman
 * Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003; DTV film) - Bruce Wayne/Batman
 * Justice League Unlimited (2004–2006; TV series) - Bruce Wayne/Batman
 * The Batman (2006; TV series) - John Grayson (guest star; episode: "A Matter of Family")
 * Batman: Gotham Knight (2008; DTV film) - Bruce Wayne/Batman
 * Ben 10: Alien Force (2008; TV series) - Alien X (Bellicus)
 * Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009; video game) - Bruce Wayne/Batman and Thomas Wayne
 * Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009; DTV film) - Bruce Wayne/Batman
 * The Venture Bros (2009; TV series) - Captain Sunshine (guest star; episode: "Handsome Ransom")
 * Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2010; TV Series) - Batman of Zur-En-Arrh, Phantom Stranger
 * Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010; DTV film) - Bruce Wayne/Batman
 * DC Universe Online (2010) - Batman
 * Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes - Doc Samson
 * Batman: Arkham City (2011; video game) - Bruce Wayne/Batman