Kevin Conroy

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Kevin Conroy
Kevin Conroy SBA.jpg
Conroy on September 23, 2010
Born (1955-11-30) November 30, 1955 (age 58)
Westbury, New York, U.S.
Alma mater Juilliard School
Occupation Actor
Years active 1980–present

Kevin Conroy (born November 30, 1955) is an American stage, screen, and voice actor, known for his acclaimed voice role as the DC Comics character Batman in the 1990s Warner Bros. television show Batman: The Animated Series, as well as its various spin-off TV series and feature films that made up the DC animated universe.[1] He has also voiced Batman in the acclaimed video games Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, as well as various films under the DC Universe Animated Original Movies banner.

Early life[edit]

Born in Westbury, New York, Conroy moved to Westport, Connecticut when he was about 11 years old. He moved to New York in 1973 when he earned a full scholarship to attend Juilliard's famous drama division, where he studied under actor John Houseman. While there, he almost ended up living with future Superman actor Christopher Reeve, but ended up rooming with Robin Williams who was in the same group as both Conroy and Kelsey Grammer.[2] In 1978, after graduating from Juilliard, he toured with The Acting Company, Houseman's acting group, and, in 1979, he went on the national tour of Ira Levin's Deathtrap.[3]

Career[edit]

In 1980, he decided to try his hand in television, and moved out to California. He landed a role in the daytime soap opera Another World. He became associated with the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California, where he performed in productions of Hamlet and A Midsummer Night's Dream. From 1980 to 1985, he acted in a variety of contemporary and classic theatre pieces, including the Broadway productions of Eastern Standard and Edward Albee's adaptation of Lolita. In 1984, he played the title role in Hamlet in the New York Shakespeare Festival. He returned to television in the 1985 TV movie Covenant, and had a role on another daytime soap drama, Search For Tomorrow. 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 movies. Though initially cast as one of the shows main characters, his role on the show was reduced while it filmed in Hawaii and he ended up spending much of his time doing portraits of tourists on the Honolulu boardwalk. He has also guest starred on shows such as Cheers, Dynasty, Search For Tomorrow, and Matlock.[4]

He almost landed the part of Joe Hackett on the NBC sitcom Wings, but lost out to Tim Daly (who coincidentally, as a voice actor, later portrayed Superman in The WB's Superman: The Animated Series). He was confirmed to be performing on the fourth season of The Venture Bros. as Captain Sunshine, a caricature of Batman and Superman.[4]

As Batman[edit]

As a voice actor, Kevin Conroy is best known for his starring role in the acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series (1992–1995). He continued to voice-play Batman in the subsequent spin-off series The New Batman Adventures (1997–1999), Batman Beyond (1999–2001), Justice League (2001–2004), and Justice League Unlimited (2004–2006), all of which take place in what is commonly referred to as the DC animated universe (DCAU). His tenure in the role also includes the DCAU films Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero (1998), Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000), and Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003). He also voiced Batman for the character's guest appearances in the DCAU's Superman: The Animated Series, Static Shock, and The Zeta Project.

Conroy is well remembered by fans for being the first person in animation to use two distinct voices to portray Bruce Wayne and Batman, which was Conroy's idea.[3] In a tally of performances that include every episode, movie, and guest appearance made as Batman, Conroy has portrayed the character longer than any other actor in either live-action or animation. Apart from the DCAU, Conroy has also portrayed Batman in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies Batman: Gotham Knight (2008), Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009), Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010), Justice League: Doom (2012), and Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013).[4][5][6]

Additionally, he portrayed Batman in the video games The Adventures of Batman & Robin (1994), Batman: Vengeance (2001), Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu (2003), Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009), Batman: Arkham City (2011) and Injustice: Gods Among Us (2013), as well as the 2001 revamp of Batman Adventure - The Ride, at the Warner Bros. Movie World theme park in Queensland, Australia. Conroy also voiced Batman alongside his DCAU co-star Mark Hamill as the Joker and Jason Hillhouse as Dick Grayson in a feature of a storyboard scene included in the 2005 Special Edition DVD of the 1989 Batman live-action film. This scene depicted the origin of Robin, which wasn't filmed because the filmmakers ultimately felt it was out of place with the rest of the film. In the season four premiere of The Batman, an animated series unrelated to the DCAU, Conroy portrayed Robin's father, John Grayson. Conroy also voiced the Phantom Stranger and an alternate Batman in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, another animated series unrelated to the DCAU.[7]

He also portrays Batman in the online video game DC Universe Online. He will reprise the role in the upcoming DLC.

To coincide with the theatrical release of The Dark Knight Rises on July 20, 2012, The Hub TV network aired a 10-episode marathon of Batman: The Animated Series. To promote the marathon, the third trailer for The Dark Knight Rises was remade into an animated trailer using footage from Batman: The Animated Series, and featured Conroy redubbing all of Batman's dialogue in the trailer.[8]

Conroy 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 as Batman in Batman: Arkham Origins. In June 2013, however, it was confirmed that Conroy would not be involved in Arkham Origins meaning Conroy may have been referring to an unannounced game for the series.[9]

He has confirmed on Twitter that he filmed a role on Tim Daly's Internet Series The Daly Show,[10] where he will parody his role as Batman in a fight with Tim Daly parodying Superman.[1]

Personal life[edit]

After the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City, Conroy participated in relief efforts by volunteering to do cooking duties for officers and firefighters. 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 Batman: The Animated Series 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.[11][12]

He is married and has one child.[12]

Credits[edit]

Stage plays[edit]

Stage Play Character played Location performed Year
Accounts  ? Hudson Guild  ?
Come Back Little Sheba  ? Roundabout Theatre  ?
Deathtrap Clifford Anderson (on Broadway) 1979
Eastern Standard Peter Kidde Golden Theatre (Broadway) 1989
The Greeks Achilles Hartford Stage 1984
Hamlet Hamlet New York Shakespeare Festival 1984
Hamlet Hamlet Old Globe Theatre, San Diego  ?
King Lear Edgar San Diego Shakespeare Festival  ?
The Last Yankee Lenny Hamilton Signature Theatre 12/30/97 - 2/8/98
Lolita  ? (on Broadway)  ?
A Midsummer Night's Dream Lysander New York Shakespeare Festival 1984
A Midsummer Night's Dream Lysander Old Globe Theater, San Diego 1982
Mother Courage  ?  ?  ?
Much Ado About Nothing  ? San Diego Shakespeare Festival  ?

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Top 10 Comic to TV Adaptations". IGN. Retrieved 2010-08-15. 
  2. ^ http://panelsonpages.com/?p=15025
  3. ^ a b Murphy, Joel (2009-10-01). "One on One with Kevin Conroy". HoboTrashcan. 
  4. ^ a b c "Prelude to a Kill...". Publick Nuisance. 
  5. ^ Harvey, James (2008-02-29). "Kevin Conroy to play Batman in Batman: Gotham Knight". World's Finest Online. 
  6. ^ McMillan, Graeme (April 25, 2012). "Batman Voice Actor Kevin Conroy Spills DC's Potential Animated 'Flashpoint' Plans". ComicsAlliance
  7. ^ "Interview with Michael Jelenic.". 
  8. ^ BTAS/TDKR trailer on The Hub, Web Video.
  9. ^ Kubba, Sinan (June 11, 2013). "Batman: Arkham Origins doesn't feature Kevin Conroy after all". Joystiq. AOL. Retrieved June 11, 2013. 
  10. ^ https://twitter.com/RealKevinConroy/status/387328969600958465
  11. ^ Batman: Gotham Knight audio commentary.
  12. ^ a b http://www.filmreference.com/film/2/Kevin-Conroy.html

External links[edit]

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Adam West		 Voice of Batman
1992-2006		 Succeeded by
Rino Romano
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Jeremy Sisto		 Voice of Batman
2008-present		 Succeeded by
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