Kevin Conroy (November 30, 1955 – November 10, 2022) was an American actor. He appeared in a variety of stage performances, television series, and television films. Conroy earned fame for voicing Batman in various animated media, beginning with Batman: The Animated Series in 1992. Conroy went on to voice the character for dozens of animated television series, feature films, and video games over the next three decades.
Early life
Kevin Conroy was born on November 30, 1955, in Westbury, New York, into an Irish Catholic family. He moved to Westport, Connecticut, when he was about 11 years old. He had three older siblings. Conroy held dual American and Irish citizenship.
Due to the tumultuous environment in his home, Conroy lived with a family friend during his last year of high school. Conroy's father was an alcoholic and once attempted suicide while Conroy was in high school. In adulthood, Conroy was estranged from his father for many years but they reconciled shortly before his death. He was at both his mother's side and his father's side when they died.
Conroy moved to New York City in 1973 when he earned a full scholarship to attend the Juilliard School's drama division, studying under actor/director John Houseman. While there, he roomed with Robin Williams, who was in the same group as both Conroy and Kelsey Grammer. After graduating from Juilliard in 1978, he toured with Houseman's performing group The Acting Company, and the following year he went on the national tour of Ira Levin's Deathtrap. He was a series regular on Ohara in 1987, and as the company commander on Tour of Duty from 1987 to 1988, before starring in a series of television films. Though initially cast as one of the show's main characters, his role on the show was reduced while it filmed in Hawaii and he ended up spending much of his time making portraits of tourists on the Honolulu boardwalk. Conroy also guest starred on shows such as Cheers, Search for Tomorrow, Matlock and Murphy Brown. He was notably the first voice actor to alter his voice tone between portraying Batman and Bruce Wayne, which Michael Keaton had previously done in Tim Burton's live-action Batman films. He continued to voice Batman in various animated spin-off productions, which collectively took place in what is known as the DC Animated Universe (DCAU). These spin-offs include the TV shows The New Batman Adventures (1997–1999), Batman Beyond (1999–2001, in which he portrays an elderly Bruce Wayne retired from crimefighting), Justice League (2001–2004), and Justice League Unlimited (2004–2006), as well as the theatrical film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), and the direct-to-video films Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero (1998), Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000), and Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003). He also voiced the DCAU Batman for guest appearances in Superman: The Animated Series, Static Shock and The Zeta Project.
Conroy went on to voice Batman in the direct-to-video DC Universe Animated Original Movies: Batman: Gotham Knight (2008), Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009), Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010), Justice League: Doom (2012), Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013), Batman: Assault on Arkham (2014), Batman: The Killing Joke (2016), Batman and Harley Quinn (2017), and Justice League vs. the Fatal Five (2019). He later returned to voicing Batman on TV for the animated series Justice League Action (2016–2018), along with guest appearances on Teen Titans Go! and Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?. In a tally of the actor's performances that include his every episode and film portrayal of Batman, Conroy portrayed the character longer than any other actor in live-action and animation. The previous record-holder was Olan Soule, who voiced Batman in various animated works between the late 1960s and early 1980s (including Super Friends).
After the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York City, Conroy participated in relief efforts by volunteering to cook for people. During an audio commentary on Batman: Gotham Knight, Conroy expressed his surprise at the reaction of the emergency service workers to his presence. At the behest of another cook, Conroy called out from the kitchen to the dining area in his "Batman voice", reciting the iconic line, "I am vengeance! I am the night! I am Batman!" (from the BTAS episode "Nothing to Fear"). This was greeted by cheers and applause from emergency service personnel, many of whom had been fans of Batman: The Animated Series during its airing in the 1990s. Conroy confessed to being humbled and deeply flattered by the reaction.
thumb|Conroy, at right, did a table read with the voice cast and crew of [[Batman: The Animated Series at the 2019 East Coast Comicon in Secaucus, New Jersey.]]
Conroy also voiced Batman for multiple video games, including the Batman: Arkham series. Following the release of Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009) and Batman: Arkham City (2011), he stated at the 2013 Dallas Comic Con that he had been working on "the next Arkham", leading to rampant speculation that he would reprise his role in Batman: Arkham Origins. In June 2013, however, it was confirmed that Conroy would not be involved in Arkham Origins (Batman was instead voiced by Roger Craig Smith in that game), meaning Conroy may have been referring to a yet-unannounced game from the Arkham series. He would ultimately reprise the role for the fourth game in the series, titled Batman: Arkham Knight (2015).
In October 2013, Conroy appeared on Tim Daly's web series The Daly Show, parodying his role as Batman, with Daly reprising the role of Superman from Superman: The Animated Series.
Conroy portrayed Bruce Wayne of Earth-99 in live-action in the Arrowverse crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths". This was his only live-action portrayal of the character.
Mark Hamill, Conroy's frequent voice actor co-star as the Joker, spoke highly of working with him. Regarding his willingness to be involved in a Batman-related project, Hamill said, "When they offer me roles now, I say, 'Is Kevin doing it?' ... I don't even have to read the script, if Kevin's doing it, I'll do it." In 2023, following Conroy's death, Hamill stated he would no longer voice the Joker, citing his Joker quote "Without Batman, crime has no punchline".
In 2024, his final time voicing the character were in the spin-off title to the Arkham series, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and a brief cameo in Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Three. The following year, Conroy was revealed to have a posthumous role in the Devil May Cry animated series as Vice President William Baines.
Personal life
In a 2016 interview with The New York Times promoting the animated adaptation of Batman: The Killing Joke, Conroy revealed that he was gay. and posthumously won Conroy the 2023 Eisner Award for Best Short Story.
He was married to Vaughn C. Williams at the time of his death.
Conroy made an effort to conceal his homosexuality throughout most of his career. He spoke in "Finding Batman" about the discrimination he faced once potential collaborators and employers discovered his homosexuality. Conroy said that on multiple occasions he had been removed from consideration for acting jobs due to his sexual orientation.
Conroy made frequent appearances at comic book conventions; his last convention was in Connecticut in July 2022.
Death
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Conroy died at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City on November 10, 2022, at age 66, of intestinal cancer. Upon news of his death, DC Comics gave free online access to "Finding Batman" as a way to honor Conroy. "Finding Batman" went on to win the 2023 Eisner Award for Best Short Story. His co-stars, including Mark Hamill, Tim Daly, Tara Strong,. The first season finale of Devil May Cry, the video games Justice League: Cosmic Chaos and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and the film Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Three were all dedicated to Conroy's memory, particularly with Cosmic Chaos and Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths– Part Three being also being dedicated to Gilbert Gottfried, Neal Adams, Alan Grant, George Pérez, Tim Sale, all of whom also died in the same year.
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1992
| Chain of Desire
| Joe
|
|-
| 1993
| Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
| rowspan="9" | Bruce Wayne / Batman
| Voice
|-
|Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox
| | Bruce Wayne / Batman
| Voice, direct-to-video
| rowspan="2" | Documentary
|-
| I Know That Voice
|-
| rowspan="3" | 2014
| Russian Yeti: The Killer Lives
| Narrator
| Voice, documentary
|-
| Alfred
| Alfred
| Short film
|-
| Batman: Assault on Arkham
| Bruce Wayne / Batman
|Voice, direct-to-video
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2016
| Batman: The Killing Joke
| Bruce Wayne / Batman
|Voice, limited theatrical release
|-
| 2017
| Batman and Harley Quinn
| rowspan="2" | Bruce Wayne / Batman
| rowspan="2" | Voice, direct-to-video
|-
| 1980
| Another World
| Jerry Grove
| Recurring role
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1982
| Born Beautiful
| Stan
| rowspan="3" | Television film
|-
| A Midsummer Night's Dream
| Lysander
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1983
| A Fine Romance
| Phil
|-
| Kennedy
| Ted Kennedy
| Miniseries
|-
| 1984
| George Washington
| John Laurens
| 1 episode
|-
| 1984–1985
| Search for Tomorrow
| Chase Kendall
| 79 episodes
|-
| 1985–1986
| Dynasty
| Bart Fallmont
| Recurring role; season 6
|-
| 1987
| Ohara
| Captain Lloyd Hamilton
| Main role; season 1
|-
| 1990
| So Proudly We Hail
| Francis Crosby
| Television film
|-
| 1989–1990
| Cheers
| Darryl Mead
| 2 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1990
| The Face of Fear
| Frank Dwight Bollinger
| Television film
|-
| WIOU
| Lenny Lubinsky
| Episode: "Pilot"
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1991
| Murphy Brown
| Roger Harris
| Episode: "Terror on the 17th Floor"
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1992
| Rachel Gunn, R.N.
| Dr. David Dunkle
| Main role
|-
| The Secret Passion of Robert Clayton
| Hunter Roy Evans
| Television film
|-
| Battle in the Erogenous Zone
| Mondo Ray
|Television short
|-
| 1992–1995
| Batman: The Animated Series
| Bruce Wayne / Batman, additional voices
| Main voice role
|-
| 1994
| The New Adventures of Captain Planet
| Army Corps of Engineers Official
| Voice, episode: "Jail House Flock"
|-
|<!-- rowspan="4" |--> rowspan="3" |2014
| DC Nation Shorts: Batman Beyond
| Voice, television short
|-
| DC Nation Shorts: Batman: Strange Days
| Voice, television short
|-<!--
| DC Nation Shorts: Green Arrow
| Police Scanner (voice)
| Episode: "Ono-Bot"
|- -->
| DC Nation Shorts: Shazam!
| Zeus
| Voice, episode: "Wisdom"
|-
| Welcome to the Wayne
| Prismal
| Voice, 7 episodes Final on-screen role
|-
| Crisis Aftermath
| Himself
| Guest
|-
| 2021
| Masters of the Universe: Revelation
| Mer-Man
| Voice, episode: "The Most Dangerous Man in Eternia"
|-
| 2022
| He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
| Hordak
| Voice, episode: "The End of the Beginning (Part 2)"
|-
| 2025
| Devil May Cry
| VP William Baines, Various voices
| Voice; posthumous release
|-
| 1999
| Crusaders of Might and Magic
| Drake
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2001
| Batman: Vengeance
| Bruce Wayne / Batman
|
|-
| Batman: Arkham City Lockdown
| rowspan="3" | Bruce Wayne / Batman
|
|-
| 2013
| Injustice: Gods Among Us
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2015
| Infinite Crisis
|
|-
| Batman: Arkham Knight
| Bruce Wayne / Batman, Thomas Elliot / Hush
|
|-
| rowspan="3" | 2016
|Batman: Arkham Underworld
| rowspan="2" |Bruce Wayne / Batman
|
|-
| View-Master Batman Animated VR
|
|-
| 2022
| MultiVersus
| rowspan="2" | Bruce Wayne / Batman
|
|-
| 2024
| Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
| Posthumous release; dedicated in memory
|-
| 2026
| Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight
| VO Talent
| Posthumous release; archival audio
|}
Theme parks
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
|2015
|Justice League: Battle for Metropolis
|Bruce Wayne / Batman
|
|}
Web
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
|
| Ollie & Scoops
| The Creature (voice)
| Posthumous release; final role
|}
Theatre
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1980
| Hamlet
| rowspan="3" | Performer
| Old Globe Theatre
|-
| 1981
| Lolita
| Broadway
|-
| 1982
| A Midsummer Night's Dream
| Old Globe Theatre
|-
| 1989
| Eastern Standard
| Peter Kidde
| Broadway
|-
|2012
| rowspan="5" |Behind the Voice Actors Awards
|Best Vocal Ensemble in a Video Game
|Batman Arkham City
|
| rowspan="5" |
|-
| rowspan="2" |2013
|Best Vocal Ensemble in a TV Special/Direct-to-DVD Title or Short
| rowspan="2" |Justice League: Doom
|
|-
|Best Male Vocal Performance in a TV Special/Direct-to-DVD Title or Short
|
|-
|2014
|Best Vocal Ensemble in a Video Game
|Injustice: Gods Among Us
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |2015
|Best Vocal Ensemble in a TV Special/Direct-to-DVD Title or Short
|Batman: Assault on Arkham
|
|-
| Play Legit's Best
| Best Actor
| Batman: Arkham Knight
|
|
|-
|2017
|Behind the Voice Actors Awards
|Best Vocal Ensemble in a TV Special/Direct-to-DVD Title or Short
|Batman: The Killing Joke
|
| rowspan="3" |
|}