Kevin Conroy

Kevin Conroy was born on Nov. 30, 1955. He had a tumultuous life as a young adult due to his father’s alcoholism which led him to become estranged from his father until they reconciled shortly before his father’s death. In 1973, Conroy moved to New York City where he earned a scholarship in the drama division of the Juilliard School. During his time at Juilliard, he roomed with famous comedian Robin Williams and worked with both Williams and actor Kelsey Grammar, who were all together under the tutelage of actor John Houseman. 

From 1980 to 1988, Conroy played various small roles in daytime soap operas and other larger roles in theater productions. Then, in 1992, Conroy was given the opportunity to voice the character of Batman in the television series, “Batman: The Animated Series.” He was the first voice actor to shift tones between the characters of Bruce Wayne and Batman after Michael Keaton had done the same in the “Batman” movie of 1989. He would go on to voice Batman in various movies and video games for over 30 years. 

However, Conroy himself was known for his philanthropy. He was an out gay man in New York in the 1980s during the AIDS epidemic, an experience he later wrote about as part of the DC Pride 2022 Anthology in a story entitled “Finding Batman.” Another of his efforts was when he cooked food for the first responders on site after the September 11, 2001, attacks. He passed away on Nov.10, 2022, twenty days before his 67 birthday. 

He is remembered by his partner Vaughn C. Williams and all the children who were inspired by his performance as the Dark Knight.