Kevin Conroy

Kevin Conroy, the man behind the gravelly bass voice of Batman and who popularized that unmistakable growl that separated Bruce Wayne from the Caped ...

For many fans of Batman, Conroy was the first iteration of the Dark Knight they ever knew and loved. I think I gave passion to the character,” he said in the 2014 interview. A bittersweet reflection on lost loved ones and time passed, it ends on a hopeful note, all of which Conroy conveyed in his 45-second, off-the-cuff clip. He appeared on [Broadway](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/kevin-conroy-36088), too, in “Lolita” and “Eastern Standard.” To find the character, he turned to his Shakespearean training, saying he saw a bit of Hamlet in Bruce Wayne. Batman brought joy to others in times of need, too: A native New Yorker, Conroy felt called after the events of September 11 to work at a food relief station for first responders. In all, he would play the Bat and Bruce in over 15 different animated series (totaling nearly 400 episodes) and 15 films, including “Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.” Many famous men have taken up Batman’s mantle – Bale, Pattinson, Ben Affleck, George Clooney among them – but few have gotten to explore all of the superhero’s emotions and traumas over several decades. His first and most enduring addition to the Batman canon is “Batman: The Animated Series,” which ran from 1992-1996, “For several generations, he has been the definitive Batman. “Kevin was perfection,” Hamill said in a statement to DC. Conroy’s work in the role is the basis for every iteration of Batman popular culture has seen since.