Kevin Conroy, a voice actor who provided Batman's voice in several animated series, has passed away. He was 66. Kevin Conroy lost his battle with cancer on Thursday, according to the actor's publicist.
The actor's co-star Diane Pershing, who provided the voice for Poison Ivy, shared the sad news in a statement on Friday, saying, "Sad news: our beloved voice of Batman, Kevin Conroy, passed away yesterday."
Beloved Batman Voice Actor Kevin Conroy
In an obituary issued by publicist Gary Miereanu, Conroy's co-stars paid adoring tribute to their friend. Mark Hamill, who played The Joker opposite Kevin Conroy's portrayal of Batman, thought Kevin Conroy was great.
When the young actor started his studies at Julliard under the guidance of the great John Houseman, he relocated to New York City. While there, he met Robin Williams, who would eventually become his roommate. He also met Kelsey Grammar in that group.
He traveled to Los Angeles where he found work on the daytime program 'Another World after traveling with his previous acting instructor in The Acting Company, Daily Mail reported. Kevin Conroy continued to be active in theater when he wasn't filming, appearing in the Broadway production of Eastern Standard as a TV producer who was secretly living with AIDS.
Conroy spent more time portraying Batman than any other actor who wore the iconic cape and mask on screen, despite never revealing his face. According to DC Comics, his recognizable deep and raspy voice contributed to the character's definition in approximately 60 different works, including 15 movies, 15 animated series with about 400 episodes, more than 100 hours of television, and two dozen video games.
Despite not being a fan of comic books, Conroy was cast in the lead role of 'Batman: The Animated Series' after the show's producers, who were unimpressed by the 500 auditions they had received, were taken by the "gravitas" that Conroy brought, according to Alan Burnett, a writer and producer on the show. In 1992, the program debuted on the Fox Kids network.
Who is Kevin Conroy?
Per NY Times, Thomas Conroy and Patricia Conroy welcomed Kevin into the world on November 30, 1955, in Westbury, New York. He was raised in Westport, Connecticut. He was the youngest of four children and was raised in a strict Irish Catholic home, which broke up when he was 15 because of his father's alcoholism as a Pan Am executive, who had driven his mother out.
Kevin Conroy stated he felt most at home while he was onstage in school plays and finished high school early while living with pals. He was given a scholarship at Juilliard when he was 17 years old, where he began to improve his acting abilities and shared a residence with Robin Williams.
After spending several years spending his time between New York and Los Angeles and investing in real estate to supplement his income, Conroy decided to make New York his permanent home in 2000. He would commute to Southern California when acting job demanded it.
Despite a difficult upbringing, Kevin Conroy claimed he reconciled with his parents in their latter years. Kevin Conroy is survived by his husband, sister Trisha Conroy, and brother Tom Conroy in addition to his sister. He never wavered in his devotion to Batman, not even in recent years. In 'Crisis on Infinite Earths,' a five-part crossover tale spanning episodes of a number of programs on the CW network, he made a live-action cameo as Bruce Wayne.
And earlier this year, he discussed how much it meant to him to voice the caped crusader in a nine-page comic called 'Finding Batman' that was published as part of a DC Pride anthology. Kevin Conroy claimed that, like the hero, he had honed his ability to mask some aspects of himself. During his audition for 'Batman: The Animated Series,' he finally started to wrestle with his upbringing as the gay son in a devoted household.
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