Kevin Conroy was born on November 30 1955 in Westbury, New York. He grew up in Westport, Connecticut. He studied acting at Julliard under actor and director John Houseman, and was room mates with Robin Williams. Among those at Julliard at the same time as Mr. Conroy was future Superman Christopher Reeve. After he graduated from Julliard he toured as part of The Acting Company.
Mr. Conroy made his television debut in a bit part as a bartender in the TV movie How to Pick Up Girls in 1978. He had a regular role on the soap opera Another World from 1980 to 1981. In the Eighties he had recurring or regular roles on Search for Tomorrow, Dynasty, Ohara, and Tour of Duty. He guest starred on the shows Matlock, Kay O'Brien, Spenser: For Hire, Cheers, and WIOU. He played Ted Kennedy in the mini-series Kennedy and John Laurens in the mini-series George Washington.
It was in 1992 that Kevin Conroy began his long stint playing Batman with Batman: The Animated Series. He would play Batman on the TV shows The New Batman Adventures, Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Static Shock. The Zeta Project, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, Justice League Action, Teen Titans Go, and Scooby Doo and Guess Who?. He provided the voice of Batman in the TV movies The Batman Superman Movie: World's Finest and Batman Beyond: the Movie, as well as the mini-series Tales of Metropolis. He also appeared in live action as Bruce Wayne in the Batwoman episode of the crossover miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths. He provided the voice of Batman in several feature films, starting with Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993). He voiced Batman in the feature films Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero (1998), Batman Beyond; The Return of The Joker (2000), Batman: Mystery of The Batwoman (2003), Justice League: Starcrossed (2004), Baman: 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 provided the voice of Bruce Wayne's father Thomas Wayne in Batman vs. Robin (2015) and guest starred as Robin's father John Grayson in an episode of The Batman. He also voiced Batman in several video games, beginning with The Adventures of Batman & Robin in 1996. He last voiced Batman in a video game in MultiVersus, released this year.
During the Nineties Kevin Conroy also had a regular role on the TV show Rachel Gunn, R.N. He had a recurring role on The Office. He guest starred on the shows Murphy Brown and The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest. Kevin Conroy made his movie debut in Chain of Desire in 1992.
In the Naughts, in addition to voicing Batman in various DC Comics projects, he guest starred on the shows Ben 10: Alien Force and The Venture Brothers. On Batman: Brave and the Bold he voiced The Phantom Stranger and Batman of Zur-En-Arrh.
In the Teens Kevin Conroy continued to voice Batman. He also provided the voice of Zeus in the mini-series Shazam and was a guest voice on Turbo FAST and The Gang's All Here. He guest starred on The Daly Show. He was a regular voice on the series Welcome to the Wayne. He provided a voice for Jay and Silent Bob's Super Groovy Cartoon Movie (2013) and appeared in the movie Yoga Hosers (2016). In the Twenties he was a guest voice on the animated shows Masters of the Universe: Revelation and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
Kevin Conroy is considered by many, perhaps most fans as the definitive voice of Batman. When many hear the voice of Batman in their head, it is not Adam West, Michael Keaton, or Christian Bale they hear, but Kevin Conroy. If Kevin Conroy is the quintessential Batman, it is with good reason. He brought a suitable air of menace to the character, but with an underlying humanity. He drew upon his own life to channel a character whose life had been shaped by tragedy. More so than any other actor, Kevin Conroy brought out the fact that at his core, Batman was someone who had lost his parents at a very young age. This made it much easier for viewers to identify with Kevin Conroy's Batman than any Batman before or since.
Of course, Kevin Conroy played more roles than Batman. He played the extremely patient Captain Rusty Wallace on Tour of Duty. On Dynasty he played gay politician Bart Fallmount. He also had a successful stage career. He appeared on Broadway in Lolita in 1981. In 1989 he appeared in Eastern Standard, in which he played a television producer recently diagnosed with AIDS.
While Kevin Conroy was an extremely talented actor, he was also a true gentleman known for his kindness and thoughtfulness. Following the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks, Mr. Conroy volunteered to cook for firefighters, police officers, and other emergency service workers. He frequently attended conventions, where he would always take time with his fans, who always said that he was the nicest person one could meet. Kevin Conroy was also on Cameo, the video-sharing service that allows celebrities to send personalized messages to their fans. He was well-known for creating longer messages than he had to, taking time to let fans know how much they meant to him. Following Mr. Conroy's death, a DC Animated Universe fan shared on Twitter a Cameo video they had received from him following the death of their grandmother. Opening the video as Batman, Kevin Conroy shared his own experiences with death and grief and gave comfort to the fan. When it came to his fellow human beings, particularly his fans, Kevin Conroy always gave more than he was expected to. He was a kind, loving man who truly cared for his fellow human beings. In the end, Kevin Conroy not only played a superhero, he was a superhero.
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