Kevin Conroy 1955-2022
Kevin Conroy was thee voice of Batman.
Two generations grew up with him voicing the Dark Knight. The film actors have come and gone at random for the last twenty years. But Kevin Conroy was a constant in changing world. Adam West had an early claim to a clownish iteration but he didn’t play the role anywhere near as often or carry the part as seriously as Conroy did.
“This series was clearly a high priority for Warner Brothers because they were willing to spend decent money on it. Every episode had its own original score which was unheard of for a TV cartoon in those days. The voice actors were top of the heap as well. Kevin Conroy was a Julliard graduate who did mostly theater and a little TV work to supplement his bottom line. His agent talked him into auditioning for Batman because they were looking for non-traditional voice-over actors. Batman was his first time doing voice work. What really sold Conroy to Dini and Timm was that he understood and delivered the different voices needed for Bruce Wayne and Batman, getting them both right, was where they had been running into trouble.”
He did successfully play two different roles of Batman and Bruce Wayne.
But when you think about it, Batman Beyond’s Bruce Wayne was indeed a third character. The old man who had finally reconciled the dichotomy of his secret and public lives.
In a world where our childhood heroes are constantly being degraded and vilified in the name of god only knows what, his loss from cancer at the age of 66 feels like an especially keen one.
