Actor Kevin Conroy, known for voicing Batman in various animated TV shows, feature films and video games, has reportedly died aged 66.
Conroy first played Bruce Wayne and his superhero alter-ego in Batman: The Animated Series which aired from 1992-5. His performance, and the series, proved so popular with fans that he returned many times in various animated TV shows and movies over the years, as well as video games including Arkham Knight and Arkham City. He most recently appeared in his classic part for a 2019 episode of Batwoman.
While the news has yet to be confirmed by Conroy’s estate, earlier today Diane Pershing, who played DC villain Poison Ivy alongside Conroy in Batman: The Animated Series among other titles, announced the death on her personal Facebook page.
Conroy previously spoke about fans being upset at his "angry Bruce Wayne" from his Batwoman appearance in "Crisis on Infinite Earths." "The fans were not happy about that. They didn't like seeing that version of Bruce Wayne," Conroy said on the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast. "But for me it was fun, it was a lot of fun to sort of stretch my acting chops a little bit."
Conroy told his former Justice League and Justice League Unlimited co-star he knew nothing about this Batman except that he was older, only learning later that this Bruce Wayne was left mangled after killing his world's Superman.
"They didn't tell me anything about the Batman. They just said he was the Batman in the future, an old Bruce Wayne," Conroy said. "I said, 'You mean like in Batman Beyond old Bruce Wayne?' They said, 'No, he's not 80. But he's older and he's in bad shape.'"
Conroy served as the voice of the Dark Knight in various media, such as Batman: The Animated Series and Justice League. The actor also portrayed a live-action Bruce Wayne in the Arrowverse's Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover.
Conroy also voiced Batman in a number of video games including the Arkham series, LEGO DC Super-Villains, and Injustice: Gods Among Us.
The legendary voice actor also published a heartfelt story in DC Comics’ 2022 Pride Anthology, talking about his experiences as the only openly gay actor to play the Dark Night. The story, “Finding Batman,” discusses his struggles to find work in the film industry as a gay man, and how becoming Batman was a turning point in his life and for his identity.
Aside from his voice acting career, Conroy had a stellar run in films and TV, with iconic roles in Search for Tomorrow, Dynasty, Ohara, and Tour of Duty. The actor also served as a guest star on shows, such as Cheers, Search for Tomorrow, Matlock, and Murphy Brown.
In the 1980s, Conroy also acted in a plethora of theatre plays, including the Broadway productions of Lolita and Eastern Standard.
Conroy's final performance as Batman was for DC's MultiVersus video game.
For many, Conroy is the definitive Batman since his incredible portrayal perfectly showcased the DC hero's attributes. This is on top of the fact that the actor portrayed the Dark Knight
No comments:
Post a Comment