Ever since his birth in “Detective Comics” back in May of 1939, Batman has been a mainstay in popular American culture. He’s appeared in comics, in video games and has been referenced in music. But Batman’s popularity mainly comes from on screen. From the Adam West led television series to Robert Pattinson’s dark and brooding portrayal, many actors over the years have donned the cape and cowl, and taken up the role. But none have become as synonymous with the character as American actor Kevin Conroy.
After his first performance as Batman in the 1992 cartoon “Batman: The Animated Series,” Conroy has gone on to become the longest-running Batman actor, voicing the character in various media for over three decades. Most diehard Batman fans will tell you that Conroy is the definitive voice of both Batman and Bruce Wayne. But how did he get his start as Batman? And what was he doing before he got the role? These were questions that I couldn’t answer, and if I was going to call myself a Batman fan that needed to change. So, I began to research the man known as Kevin Conroy and came to find out how he became the perfect Batman.
Conroy was born as the youngest of three siblings in Westbury, New York on November 30, 1955. At a young age, Conroy knew he was gay and that immediately raised the concern of having to hide his true identity from his friends and family. This was the 1950’s and 60’s and he was a part of a devoutly Irish Catholic family so being openly gay wasn’t an option for him. Kevin also suffered through a troubled home environment in his youth. His brother was schizophrenic and his father was an alcoholic. His father would come home every day in a drunken stupor and fight with his mother constantly. The police having to show up at the Conroy house was not an uncommon occurrence. One event that stuck with a young Kevin Conroy was when the police phoned their household claiming that his father had been found with a self-inflicted stab wound in a car in the middle of the woods. His mother was so exasperated with his father that she refused to go and visit him in the hospital, sending a lonely Conroy instead. Conroy never forgot the image of his father lying in a hospital bed; weak and bloodied. The household got so bad that Conroy moved into a friend’s house in his senior year so that he could focus on his grades for college. He knew that getting excellent grades would be important because his parents would provide zero financial help to get him into one.
After falling in love with theatre and Shakespeare’s plays in high school, Conroy knew he wanted to be an actor and the biggest acting school near him just so happened to be the biggest acting school in the country, Julliard. Knowing that his parents wouldn’t contribute anything financially, the only way he would’ve been able to attend college would be if he received a full-ride scholarship. So, he went out on a limb and took a trip to Julliard to audition for the school. He performed a scene from “Romeo and Juliet” and when he was finished, he heard a booming voice come from the back of the auditorium. It was John Houseman, actor, director and head of Julliard’s acting division. After learning about Conroy’s financial situation, Houseman offered him a full scholarship to attend Julliard. Conroy graduated from Julliard and became roommates with future famous actors Robin Williams and Kelsey Grammar. After graduating, Conroy worked for Houseman and his performing company, The Acting Group. He went on to tour with many different theatre groups and star in many different productions, from “Hamlet” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to “Lolita” and “Eastern Standard.” Conroy eventually decided it was time to take the next step into acting for television, so he packed his bags and moved out to California.
After moving out to California, Conroy starred in various daytime soap dramas and television films such as “Search For Tomorrow.” Knowing Hollywood’s homophobia, especially toward gay actors, Conroy kept his identity as a gay man hidden in his professional life. This became a challenge when Conroy got his biggest break yet playing a closeted gay lawyer on the television show, “Dynasty.” He also became a series regular on both “Ohara” and “Tour of Duty.” While keeping his identity hidden, many of Conroy’s close friends passed during this decade from a strange and unknown illness. This disease, which we now know as AIDS, posed a serious threat to Conroy and his close friends. Both his manager and his manager’s assistant died from it. Conroy expressed that “during this time funerals were very common”. The period became even more tumultuous as Conroy’s father passed and he had to take care of his schizophrenic brother. When his care became too much for him to bear on his own, he had him admitted into a psych ward. Even Conroy’s personal identity was in crisis as fellow actors, producers, directors and managers would somehow find out about his sexual orientation and discriminate against him for it.
One day, Conroy’s voice-over agent called him about a potential role in a new show called “Batman: The Animated Series.” Having zero voice acting experience and knowing nothing more about the character other than the 1960s Adam West series, Conroy went to the audition. When he met with creative directors Bruce Timm, Eric Radomski and Andrea Romano. They told him that he’d be auditioning for the lead role of both Batman and Bruce Wayne. He learned more about the character, how Bruce’s parents died when he was young and how he had to become independent at a young age. But the piece of the character that Conroy understood the most was his need to have a private and public identity and the struggles that come with it. These were qualities that Conroy took note of when he stepped inside the recording booth to begin his audition. The voice that sprang out from Conroy was described as a “roar from thirty years of frustration, confusion, denial, love and yearning.” He says that he “felt Batman rising from deep within.” And the rest is history.
Kevin Conroy officially came out to the world in 2016. In 2022, he partnered with DC Comics and released “Finding Batman” for their pride anthology. The comic details his life and struggles as a gay actor, and is a great resource to learn more information about him. After Conroy’s passing in late 2022, DC made the entire anthology that the comic appears in free. You can read it here.
