History Creator / KevinConroy

Kevin Conroy (November 30, 1955 – November 10, 2022) was an American actor. Becoming a professional actor in the 1970s, Conroy performed in numerous productions over the years, particularly in theatre.

Then it came to pass that he became the [[{{Memes/Batman}} goddamn]] Franchise/{{Batman}}.

%%Per Administrivia/CreatorPageGuidelines, only tropes associated to a creator's works are allowed on this wiki's pages, and tropes that only apply to the creator's personal life as if the creator is a fictional character are not allowed. Please do not apply tropes about the creator's personal life as if they are a fictional character.

[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kevin_conroy_7145.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:280:''[[WesternAnimation/BatmantheAnimatedSeries He was vengeance.\\
He was the night.\\
He will always be… BATMAN.]]'']]

Beginning with ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', Conroy lent his voice to the iconic character and never looked back. His performances as Batman were often lauded, especially the manner in which he was able to vocally portray Batman and Bruce Wayne as two different people. In later years, he would say that the role of Batman resonated with him deeply as a gay man who had lived in the closet for most of his life, relating Bruce Wayne's struggle to maintain a facade of normalcy with his own struggles being gay in a time when it was not socially acceptable. He would continue to play the role of the Dark Knight every time he appeared in the ''Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse'', a continuity which includes the aforementioned ''Batman: The Animated Series'', ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'', ''WesternAnimation/TheZetaProject'', as well as numerous Batman-related games. Conroy reprised the role in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanGothamKnight'', ''WesternAnimation/SupermanBatmanPublicEnemies'', ''WesternAnimation/SupermanBatmanApocalypse'', the ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries''[[labelnote:*]]with the exceptions of ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' and ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOriginsBlackgate'', which have Creator/RogerCraigSmith taking over the role in order to portray a younger, less experienced Batman, but including ''VideoGame/SuicideSquadKillTheJusticeLeague'', which will be released after his death[[/labelnote]], ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueDoom'', ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueTheFlashpointParadox''[[labelnote:*]]Although for the majority of the movie, we see a [[AlternateUniverse different]] [[LegacyCharacter Batman]] who's voiced by Creator/KevinMcKidd instead[[/labelnote]], ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'', ''VideoGame/DCUniverseOnline'', ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAssaultOnArkham'', ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheKillingJoke'', ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueAction'', ''VideoGame/Injustice2'', ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo''[[labelnote:*]]episode "Real Orangins"[[/labelnote]], ''VideoGame/LegoDCSuperVillains'', ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndGuessWho'', ''VideoGame/{{Multiversus}}'', and ''VideoGame/SuicideSquadKillTheJusticeLeague''. He wrote an autobiographical comic about taking on the role called "Finding Batman" published in ''ComicBook/DCPride2022'', posthumously winning an Eisner Award for Best Short Story for it.

Some of his other roles included Captain Sunshine on ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers''[[note]]Which was itself a parodic mashup of Batman, Franchise/{{Superman}}, and Music/MichaelJackson[[/note]], John Grayson on ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'', Bellicus on ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'', and various characters from both ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'' and ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter''. His live-action roles include guest shots on [[Recap/CheersS8E7 two]] different [[Recap/CheersS8E23 episodes]] of ''Series/{{Cheers}}'', Captain Lloyd Hamilton on ''Series/{{Ohara}}'', and a recurring role as Captain Rusty Wallace on the first season of ''Series/TourOfDuty''.

* SeparatedAtBirthCasting: He's the spitting image of Creator/JohnGlover, and played his relative on stage.

** Hamill's respect for Conroy's work was also shown after the latter's passing, with Hamill stating that he'd never voice "The Joker" again, not without his Batman.

* RoleEndingMisdemeanor: Narrowly {{Averted}}. At Comic-Con 2013, Conroy was about ten months into the two-year process of recording his dialogue for ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' when a fan asked if he would be voicing Batman in the [[BTeamSequel B-Team prequel]] ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins''.[[note]]This was before Creator/RogerCraigSmith was announced to be voicing the younger Dark Knight.[[/note]] [[PoorCommunicationKills Having not been told]] that ''Origins'' existed and believing that the fan was referring to ''Knight'', Conroy confirmed that he was working on "the next ''Arkham'' game." Due to this accidental breach of contract, Warner Bros. initially forbade him from representing the studio at future conventions, though he was able to negotiate the punishment down to being supervised while onstage for some time.

* CatchPhrase: His go-to lines when doing the Batman voice were either, "I am vengeance! I am the night! I am Batman!" or, "[[Film/BatmanBegins It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.]]"
* CoolOldGuy: You can't get any cooler than being the guy who voiced Batman for thirty straight years until the ripe old age of sixty-six!
* EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether: His roommate at Julliard was Creator/RobinWilliams, and Conroy was classmates with Creator/KelseyGrammer and Creator/ChristopherReeve. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Almost a crossover there...]]
* HopeBringer: A famous anecdote was when he did volunteer work at a soup kitchen serving emergency service workers and police officers in the aftermath of 9/11. He was recognized and was expectedly asked to speak as Batman. He did the "vengeance" line to applause and cheers from the room, since many of those he was feeding grew up on ''Batman: The Animated Series''. Conroy regarded this moment as one of the most humbling experiences of his career.

* ManlyGay: [[https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/31/arts/television/batman-the-killing-joke-kevin-conroy-alan-moore.html He came out as gay in 2016]], and his most famous voice role was the very masculine Batman.
* ReclusiveArtist: Most of anything he ever talked about in interviews was his work. But this slowly phased out in his later years especially after coming out, becoming more open about his upbringing and struggles as a closeted actor which culminated in his autobiography written for ''DC Pride 2022''. Even then, nobody even ''knew'' he was married until after he died.

Unfortunately, Conroy passed away from intestinal cancer on November 10, 2022, less than three weeks before his 67th birthday. He is survived by his husband Vaughn C. Williams as well as two siblings. He will be greatly missed.

Beginning with ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', Conroy lent his voice to the iconic character and never looked back. His performances as Batman were often lauded, especially the manner in which he was able to vocally portray Batman and Bruce Wayne as two different people. In later years, he would say that the role of Batman resonated with him deeply as a gay man who had lived in the closet for most of his life, relating Bruce Wayne's struggle to maintain a facade of normalcy with his own struggles being gay in a time when it was not socially acceptable. He would continue to play the role of the Dark Knight every time he appeared in the ''Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse'', a continuity which includes the aforementioned ''Batman: The Animated Series'', ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'', ''WesternAnimation/TheZetaProject'', as well as numerous Batman-related games. Conroy reprised the role in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanGothamKnight'', ''WesternAnimation/SupermanBatmanPublicEnemies'', ''WesternAnimation/SupermanBatmanApocalypse'', the ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries''[[labelnote:*]]with the exceptions of ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' and ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOriginsBlackgate'', which have Creator/RogerCraigSmith taking over the role in order to portray a younger, less experienced Batman, but including ''VideoGame/SuicideSquadKillTheJusticeLeague'', which will be released after his death[[/labelnote]], ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueDoom'', ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueTheFlashpointParadox''[[labelnote:*]]Although for the majority of the movie, we see a [[AlternateUniverse different]] [[LegacyCharacter Batman]] who's voiced by Creator/KevinMcKidd instead[[/labelnote]], ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'', ''VideoGame/DCUniverseOnline'', ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAssaultOnArkham'', ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheKillingJoke'', ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueAction'', ''VideoGame/Injustice2'', ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo''[[labelnote:*]]episode "Real Orangins"[[/labelnote]], ''VideoGame/LegoDCSuperVillains'', ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndGuessWho'', ''VideoGame/{{Multiversus}}'', and ''VideoGame/SuicideSquadKillTheJusticeLeague''. He wrote an autobiographical comic about taking on the role called "Finding Batman" published in ''ComicBook/DCPride2022''.

Unfortunately, Conroy passed away from intestinal cancer on November 10, 2022, less than three weeks before his 67th birthday. He is survived by his husband, Vaughn C. Williams, as well as two siblings. He will be greatly missed.

* ThoseTwoActors: With his Joker Creator/MarkHamill.