Rest in peace.

[Captain Valiant]

https://batman-news.com/2022/11/11/kevin-conroy-death/

[rolandgrey]

That man shaped so many of our childhoods.  It isn't right that it ends this way. 

 

This hits me harder than it should, too.  My father's about the same age and also struggling with cancer.

[Techwright]

WOW! That is an iconic name I didn't expect to see passing any time soon.  There've been some very good voices brought to animated Batman roles in recent years (Jason O'Mara and Bruce Greenwood spring to mind), and I'm consoled a bit by that, but Conroy will always be the definitive voice of this three-decade era, just like Olan Soule was the definitive voice for the animated "Bright Knight" era in the 70s and 80s.

[Dynamo-Joe]

There is a story I’ve heard. I’m sure most of you have heard this one as well. But it sums up Mr. Conroy so well.

Kevin Conroy was in New York as the 9-11 attacks on the Twin Towers happened. And in the aftermath he was helping run a soup kitchen giving food to the Firemen, recovery teams and Policemen who were working either on the site of the rubble or helping keep the piece and help others through the tragedy. No one knew who he was. He didn’t mention his role as Batman. Didn’t think it was that important right then.

But as fellow volunteers got to know each other at that soup kitchen over the course of the hours and days they worked there - naturally and eventually the topics of discussion veered to the personal - As in - “so what do you do for a living normally?” And Kevin mentioned that he was an actor. Had done a few parts on Broadway. That sort of thing. And New Yorkers are all “oh yeah, that’s cool.” Because that’s a normal thing to expect there in Manhattan.

But one of the workers said something like, “Yeah. Kinda thought you were an actor. You’ve got one of those voices. I was thinking I’d heard that voice before. Have you done any other work? Commercials? Radio?”

Kevin: “Well I’ve done some voice acting work for animation.”

“Yeah? Anything We’d know?”

“Well I voiced Batman for about 9 years now.”

“WAIT! You’re THAT GUY? HEY GUYS!” The worker calls out to the front, “Guess who we got back here serving food to ya! BATMAN!!”

“Oh yeah? Prove it!”

And Kevin Conroy calls out, projecting his voice to the entire shopfront, his most iconic line in that perfect Batman voice -

”I am vengeance! I am the NIGHT! I AM BATMAN!!!”

And for just a few minutes in the middle of one of the greatest tragedies we’ll ever know. He took the pain and worry away from some very tired, beaten down people and made them forget about it all and gave them joy. THAT is who Kevin Conroy was. That’s why we love him. And why we always will.