Kevin Conroy facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kevin Conroy
Conroy at the 2021 GalaxyCon Raleigh
Born	(1955-11-30)November 30, 1955 Westbury, New York, U.S.
Died	November 10, 2022(2022-11-10) (aged 66) New York City, U.S.
Education	Juilliard School (BFA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1978–2022
Spouse(s)	Vaughn C. Williams
Signature

Kevin Conroy (born November 30, 1955 – died November 10, 2022) was an American actor. He was most famous for being the voice of the superhero Batman in many animated shows and movies. He started voicing Batman in 1992 with Batman: The Animated Series. Because his voice for Batman was so popular, Conroy continued to play the character in many other projects, including the Batman: Arkham and Injustice video games.

Early Life and Education

Kevin Conroy was born in Westbury, New York, on November 30, 1955. His family was Irish Catholic. When he was about 11 years old, he moved to Westport, Connecticut. He had three older brothers and sisters.

Conroy had a challenging home life. During his last year of high school, he lived with a family friend. As an adult, he reconnected with his father before his father passed away. Conroy was with both his mother and father when they died.

In 1973, Conroy moved to New York City. He received a full scholarship to attend the Juilliard School's drama program. There, he studied acting under the famous actor John Houseman. He even shared a room with Robin Williams, who was in the same acting group as Conroy and Kelsey Grammer. After finishing Juilliard in 1978, he toured with Houseman's acting group, The Acting Company. The next year, he went on a national tour for the play Deathtrap.

Acting Career

Stage Performances

In 1980, Conroy decided to try acting on television and moved to California. He got a role in the daytime TV show Another World. Conroy also worked with the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California. He performed in plays like Hamlet and A Midsummer Night's Dream. From 1980 to 1985, he acted in many different types of plays, including Broadway shows like Lolita and Eastern Standard.

TV and Film Roles

Conroy returned to television in 1985 with the TV movie Covenant. He also had a role in another daytime TV show, Search for Tomorrow. From 1985 to 1986, Conroy played a lawyer named Bart Fallmont on the show Dynasty. He was a regular cast member on Ohara in 1987 and on Tour of Duty from 1987 to 1988. After that, he starred in several TV movies. Conroy also made guest appearances on popular shows like Cheers, Matlock, and Murphy Brown.

Voice Acting as Batman

Conroy speaking at the 2017 Phoenix Comicon

Kevin Conroy is most famous for his voice role as Bruce Wayne / Batman in the popular Batman: The Animated Series (1992–1995). He continued to voice Batman in many animated spin-off projects. These shows and movies are part of what is known as the DC Animated Universe (DCAU). Some of these include the TV shows The New Batman Adventures (1997–1999), Batman Beyond (1999–2001, where he voiced an older Bruce Wayne), Justice League (2001–2004), and Justice League Unlimited (2004–2006). He also voiced Batman in the movie Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) and direct-to-video films like Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero (1998).

Conroy was the first voice actor to use two different voices for Bruce Wayne and Batman. This was similar to what Michael Keaton did in the live-action Batman film. Conroy based his dual-voice performance on Leslie Howard in the 1934 film The Scarlet Pimpernel. He continued to voice Batman in many direct-to-video DC Universe Animated Original Movies, such as Batman: Gotham Knight (2008) and Justice League: Doom (2012). Kevin Conroy voiced Batman for a longer time than any other actor in both live-action and animated projects.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City, Conroy helped with relief efforts by cooking for police officers and firefighters. During an audio commentary for Batman: Gotham Knight, Conroy shared a story about how emergency workers reacted to him. Someone asked him to use his "Batman voice" from the kitchen. He called out, "I am vengeance! I am the night! I am Batman!" This line is famous from the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Nothing to Fear." The emergency workers cheered and applauded, which made Conroy feel very honored.

Conroy, at right, doing a table read with the voice cast and crew of Batman: The Animated Series at the 2019 East Coast Comicon in Secaucus, New Jersey

In 2012, for the movie The Dark Knight Rises, Conroy re-recorded Christian Bale's Batman lines for an animated version of a movie trailer.

At the 2013 Dallas Comic Con, Conroy mentioned he was working on "the next Arkham" game. This led to excitement that he would be Batman again in Batman: Arkham Origins. However, it was later confirmed he was not in Arkham Origins. On March 4, 2014, a new Arkham game called Batman: Arkham Knight was announced, and Conroy did return to voice Batman in that game.

In October 2013, Conroy confirmed on Twitter that he filmed a role in Tim Daly's web series The Daly Show. In it, Conroy made fun of his Batman role in a fight with Daly, who was making fun of Superman. Daly had previously voiced Superman in Superman: The Animated Series.

Conroy also played a live-action version of Bruce Wayne (from Earth-99) in the Batwoman episode of the Arrowverse crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths". This was his only live-action role as the character.

Mark Hamill, who often voiced the Joker alongside Conroy's Batman, spoke highly of working with him. Hamill said that when he is offered Batman-related projects, he asks, "Is Kevin doing it?" He added that if Kevin was involved, he would do it without even reading the script.

Personal Life

In a 2016 interview, Kevin Conroy shared that he was gay. In 2022, as part of DC Comics' Pride anthology, Conroy wrote a story called "Finding Batman." This story talked about his life and experiences. It was highly praised when it came out. At the time of his death, he was married to Vaughn C. Williams.

Conroy often appeared at comic book conventions. His last convention was in Connecticut in July 2022.

Death

Kevin Conroy passed away at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City on November 10, 2022. He was 66 years old and died from intestinal cancer. He had not publicly shared that he was ill. His death was announced by Warner Brothers Discovery.

News of Conroy's death quickly spread around the world. The word "Batman" became a top trend on Twitter, with hundreds of thousands of tweets in less than 24 hours. Many people from the entertainment world, along with friends and fans, shared their tributes.

Some of the people who honored him included Mark Hamill, Tim Daly, Dana Delany, Susan Eisenberg, Tara Strong, and Paul Dini. DC Comics also released a statement and offered free online access to his comic "Finding Batman" to honor him. After his death, fans left flowers and other tributes at the Batman statue in Burbank, California.

Filmography

Film Roles

Television Roles

Video Game Roles

Web Series Roles

Theatre Roles

Awards and Recognition

See also

In Spanish: Kevin Conroy para niños