For many computer games, most notably the Batman Arkham series, as well as the famous animated shows Batman: The Animated Series and the Justice League, Kevin Conroy, who played the Dark Knight, became Batman. He was 66.
Conroy co-starred as Poison Ivy in the venerable Batman: The Animated Series with Diane Pershing, who broke the news of Conroy’s passing before Warner Bros. Animation confirmed it.
In a statement released by Warner Bros., casting director Andrea Romano said of actor Kevin: “Kevin was far more than an actor whom I had the pleasure of casting and directing—he was a good friend for 30+ years whose compassion and generous nature knew no boundaries.” “I will always remember Kevin’s kind heart, beautifully deep laugh, and genuine love of life.”
Kevin was amazing, according to Mark Hamill, the Star Wars actor who voiced the Joker alongside Conroy’s Batman. He was one of my all-time favourite people, and I loved having him as a brother or sister. Everything he did display his sincere care for those around him. Each time I saw or spoke with him, my mood would improve.
Commemorations for the actor have begun to arrive, including this one from Paul Dini, the writer of Batman: The Animated Series:
With a role on the soap opera Another World and a run in the theatre in the early 1980s, Conroy’s acting career got off to a strong start. Conroy, a gay man, started acting as the AIDS epidemic was expanding. Later, in this year’s DC Comics Pride issue, he wrote on the same subject.
Conroy gained widespread recognition in the hearts of young people and comic book enthusiasts when he was cast as Bruce Wayne and Batman in the 1992 animated series Batman: The Animated Series after having recurrent roles on television in shows like Dynasty and Tour of Duty.
Audiences were immediately won over by Conroy’s dual representation of the playboy Wayne persona and the tragic, tortured Batman, which established his voice as the definitive rendition of the Dark Knight.
In sequels like Mask of the Phantasm, The New Adventures of Batman, and Batman Beyond as well as other DC animated shows like Justice League and Justice League U, he continued to voice the role.
Conroy has continued to voice the Dark Knight in a variety of media for decades after The Animated Series, including video games like the Batman: Arkham trilogy, the Injustice fighting games, and many others, as well as various movies in the DC Extended Universe.
Conroy even went on to play a real-life Bruce Wayne in the DC/CW crossover television series Crisis on Infinite Earths.
A façade of assurance on the exterior, but an interior tormented by wounds and struggle. Conroy talked about Batman’s dual nature and his status as an out homosexual man in his DC Comics Pride story Finding Batman.
Would I be able to relate to that, they wondered. Was that my public or private face that was there? Had I given in too much? My cheeks started to blush, my breathing deepened, my heartbeat quickened, and I started to speak, and a voice I didn’t recognize came out.
A throaty, husky, rumbling sound filled the air, causing my body to tremble. Conroy created the voice that, for throngs of fans, came to stand for Batman and will do so even after his passing with that grumbling sound.
