THE VOICES BEHIND BTAS

Kevin Conroy is the definitive Batman - at least as far as the voice is concerned. Conroy has provided many other voices for the series, but Batman is his character. He has been with the show since it began in 1992, and has appeared in every single of the series' 109 episodes, plus 5 episodes of "Superman: The Animated Series". While these shows run in syndication, you can hear all-new work from Conroy, doing the voice of the elderly Bruce Wayne on the futuristic "Batman Beyond" series.

He has also provided the voice of his father, Thomas Wayne in the episodes "Perchance to Dream" and "Beware the Grey Ghost", as well as countless background characters for the series - which is fitting, because he has to be present for every single recording session!

As an interesting side-note, Conroy went to school with Christopher "Superman" Reeves - kinda ironic - a "World's Finest" pair since the beginning...

Loren Lester first lended us with his voice for Robin/Dick Grayson about a month after the series began, in 1992. Since then he has provided Robin's voice for countless episodes, especially in the episodes aired in 1994 (the second season). As of 1997, Lester's role on the series changed when Robin parted ways with Batman, to become a hero in his own right, Nightwing.

Matthew Valencia, seen here with his brother on the right, provides the voice of Tim Drake, the new Robin, and has appeared in the majority of the new style episodes. But will Robin have to mature as his voice actor (or, more importantly, his voice) does?

Melissa Gilbert, one of the more famous voice actors to work for BTAS, originally just provided the voice of Barbara Gordon in 3 episodes. It wasn't until 1993 that her character became Batgirl, for three more episodes. Gilbert portrayed Batichica from 1992 to 1994. Currently you can see her on these "V05" commercials.

The late Mary Kay Bergman is the second voice of Batgirl, providing her voice in the movie "Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub-Zero". She is technically Batgirl #3, since her stint as the female caped crusader was released after Tara Charendoff started the role - even though this story was set prior to TNBA. Bergman has a very long resume filled with her voice-acting credits - including a bunch of the female voices for a multitude of Disney toys. She is best known for voicing nearly the entire female cast on "South Park".

Canadian-born actress Tara Charendoff joined the Bat-team in 1997, replacing Melissa Gilbert as the voice of Batgirl/Barbara Gordon. Since then, she has appeared in 14 episodes, and will appear in many more when the series picks up again in a year or two.

Charendoff has also appeared on "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" and is currently providing the voice of infant "Dil Pickles" on the popular children's sitcom, "Rugrats" (yes, it is a sitcom)! Expect to see/hear her in many more features in the future.

Efram Zimbalist, Jr., provides the voice of trusty butler Alfred Pennyworth in all but the 3 episodes in with Clive Revill did the voice. Zimbalist also appeared in "Mask of the Phantasm" and "Sub-Zero", and can be seen in live action in the original "Hot Shots" movie.

Clive Revill provided the first voice for Alfred, in the first three episodes on BTAS. All other Alfred appearances have been by Efram Zimbalist, Jr.

Actor Will Friedle is providing the voice of the new Batman on the series "Batman Beyond". Unlike Conroy's Batman, who is currently 30-something, Friedie's character is a high school student named Terry McGinnis at the ripe age of 17. Friedle is also a regular on the popular ABC sitcom, "Boy Meets World".

Veteran actress Stockard Channing provides the voice of the aged Barbara Gordon on "Batman Beyond"; Babs has now taken over the role of her father as police commissioner on the series. I don't think she looks this young any more...she's like 55 now, I think.

Jeff Bennett has provided many voices for not just BTAS, but the WB network in general. In fact, his voice can be heard on pretty much any KidsWB promo ad. For BTAS, he first provided the voice of HARDAC in the three episodes in which the robotic villain appeared. He then re-surfaced as newsreporter Jack Ryder in four episodes..."Cold Comfort", "Joker's Millions", "Over the Edge", and "Beware the Creeper". It was in the last of these four episodes when he transformed into what would be his most memorable role, the insane, Jim-Carrey-esque Creeper.

Billy Zane, made popular with his role in "The Phantom" and then a household name with his role in "Titanic", provides the voice of the Demon, Etrigan, on BTAS.

Mark Hamill, most commonly known as Luke Skywalker from the original "Star Wars" trilogy, provides the voice for Batman's arch-nemesis, the Joker. Originally cast for the role was Tim Curry ("Rocky Horror Picture Show") but once he left the series, Hamill came to fill him in. His first work was to play opposite Mr. Freeze as the corporate villain Ferris Boyle in "Heart of Ice" - he was then assigned the role of the Joker based primarily on his laughing abilities - very important for this role, indeed.

Hamill has appeared on the series more than any other villain-voice-actor, with well over 20 episodes under his belt. He has also provided the voice for the Clown Prince of Crime in the BTAS spinoff movie, "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm".

He is arguably the most famous actor to work on the series.

Another high-profile actor on BTAS was Richard Moll, who provides the voice for Two-Face/Harvey Dent. Moll has appeared in nearly as many episodes as Mark Hamill, becoming the second-most used villain voice actor on the series - how fitting, eh? His first appearance was in Episode #1, one month prior to his two-facing accident, airing in late Sept, 1992. He also appeared in the current last episode of the series, #109.

Other voices he has provided are those of the Bat-computer in the earliest episodes of the series, a security guard in "On Leather Wings", and Thomas Wayne in "Nothing to Fear".

Moll is best known for his role as "Bull" on the popular "Night Court" sitcom in the 80's, which is still running in syndication today. He has recently appeared in one of the direct-to-video "Casper" sequels, and in the Arnold Schwarzenegger film, "Jingle All the Way" - BAT-ALUMNI, UNITE!

Two-Face was originally meant to have a Marlon-Brando "Godfather" type voice, but after Moll's audition, everything changed - and, obviously, for the better.

Jeffrey Combs, best known for his roles on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and "Babylon 5", provided the voice of the new and improved Scarecrow on BTAS. He took over for Henry Polic II and made the Scarecrow actually scary - really scary. Combs' two episodes as Jonathan Crane are seen as some of the best of the new-style series.

One of the most loved characters of the show is it's most unique 100% original creation, Harley Quinn. Paul Dini, her creator, based her on one of his ol' college buddies, Arleen Sorkin, who also provides her voice. His inspiration was from a "Days of Our Lives" episode in which Arleen was dressed in a jester's outfit. Coincidence? We think not! It was an omen!

Sorkin is best known for her role on "Days of Our Lives"; more recently in the early 90's she has appeared as co-host of the somewhat short-lived "America's Funniest People". She has even written some episodes for "Tiny Toons" (two, I think), prior to working on BTAS. She is now a screenwriter and, I believe, had a part (or whole) in writing the screenplay for "Picture Perfect", starring Jennifer Aniston.

Diane Pershing probably lends the sultriest voice to the entire series. She was introduced to the Bat-mythos during the recordings for the first BTAS episodes, after the first casting choice for Ivy didn't work out. Since then, she has made the role her own, becoming one of the most beloved actors to work on the series.

Pershing had been an actor since an early age, and eventually fell into the realm of voice-acting, which is where her voice became famous - at least to us Bat-fans. She is also a full-time romance novelist, as a hobby in between other acting gigs.

Of all the actors for the series, Michael Ansara, voice of Mr. Freeze, probably looks his part more then anyone else. Ansara has acted in a huge amount of productions in the past, but, according to the Internet Movie Database his only recent works have been various Batman projects, including the animated series, and, of course, Sub-Zero.

Ansara may be the only voice actor, aside from Conroy, to cross-over into the new futuristic series, Batman Beyond, for Mr. Freeze is one of the very few current characters which will appear in a setting 50 years from now.

To the right is a picture of Ansara during a guest-appearance on the 60's "Star Trek" series. Menacing, huh? Look at how tall that guy is!

Now, is his voice electronically-scrambled, or does it really sound like that???

Famed actor/composer Paul Williams (II) provides the voice of one of the most beloved Bat-characters of all time, the Penguin. Williams has been with the series since it's debut in 1992, but, only recently, has his role on the series changed.

Instead of being the pathetic, goofy, yet still formidable bird-man that appeared in many episodes of the old style, Williams now has to present the Penguin in a much suaver, dapper style - now that the Penguin has, apparently, reformed.

Despite all the changes which happened to the series when the new style of designs were introduced, the Penguin was one of the few which people actually grew to like more. Expect his role to expand when the series continues in a year or two's time.

Just as a side note, Williams is the only actor on the series which has won an Oscar! Cool huh?

Famed actor Adrienne Barbeau provides the voice of the series' feline fatale, Catwoman. She has appeared in many productions over the years, and, most recently, has been doing guest-appearances on "The Drew Carey Show" (which, ironically, showcases the Bat-mythos much like "Seinfeld" showcased Superman). That's where I first put a face to the voice - and my, does it fit? The picture to the left is one of her from a couple (or many?) years ago.

Tony Award-winning stage-actor John Glover provides the pompous, insane voice of another classic villain, the Riddler. (I'm pretty sure he also provided the voice of the councilman in "Judgement Day", but I'm not sure.)

John Glover is one of the few actors whose ties to the Bat-mythos are two-fold. Glover also appeared in "Batman & Robin" as Dr. Jason Woodrue (the man who creates Poison Ivy in the comics).

Roddy McDowall is another of the more famous actors to lend a voice for the series. Best known for his roles in four of the five "Planet of the Apes" movies, McDowall managed to make the maniacal Mad Hatter actually have a heart, portraying him as a shy, lovable, but still insane man.

Like John Glover, Roddy McDowall has also appeared in the Bat-mythos outside of BTAS - he played the villainous Bookworm on the 1960's "Batman" series.

During the 1998/99 season, McDowall passed away at the age of 70. This site is dedicated to this brilliant, talented actor, in conjunction with Batman creator, Bob Kane.

Henry Silva provides the voice of venom-powered Bane, with three episodes under his belt. Yep, he was the old "Mexican wrestler" Bane, and the new version too. Can you believe that he is 70 years old? (Not a recent picture, by the way!)

He threw a rock at 'em.

Aron Kincaid provided the reptilian voice of Killer Croc on BTAS from 1992 to 1994, appearing in six or so episodes. In 1998, when Croc re-appeared (twice), he was replaced with a new voice actor, Brooks Gardner.

George Dzundza, currently working on the NBC sitcom "Jesse", provides many voices for BTAS. His most notable role is that of both the Ventriloquist and his dummy, Scarface. Aside from this duo, Dzundza has provided voices for lesser characters such as G. Carl Francis in "The Laughing Fish", and Dr. Gregory Belson in "Sub-Zero". As a side note, he also provides the voice of a recurring chracter on "Superman", Daily Planet editor Perry White.

Ron Perlman provides the voice of the villainous master of disguise, Clayface; a voice actor providing the voice of a villainous, disfigured former-actor. Ron Perlman has appeared in many feature films, including the fourth installment of the Alien series, "Alien Resurrection", from which this picture was taken. He also provides the voice of Jax-Ur on STAS.

Veteran actor David Warner (I) provides the voice for one of Batman's most formidable - and different - foes, Ra's Al Ghul. His elegant, upper-class, yet forceful voice brought real fear to Ra's character in the five episodes in which he appeared. Warner's other works include a cameo in the teen horror-flick "Scream 2", as well as a large supporting role in the most successful movie of all time, "Titanic", in which he also played a rather villainous role.

Helen Slater provides the voice of the daughter of the demon, Talia. While she provides the voice of a villain (well, sorta) on BTAS, she has portrayed another well-known character - a hero - in her time. Betcha didn't know she was Supergirl in that cheesy "Supergirl" movie in the 80's - well, she was!

Mark Rolston, seen here in "Aliens" (the second one), provides the voice of Firefly. Most recently, Rolston can be seen in the Jackie Chan movie "Rush Hour", in which he had a large supporting role.

Sela Ward provided the voice of Calendar Girl in the episode, "Mean Seasons". She has been in many movies over the years, including "54" (most recently), and a guest-shot on an episode of "Frasier". She also played the role of Helen Kimble, Harrison Ford's murdered wife in "The Fugitive".

Alison La Placa, seen here in an episode of "Friends", provided the voice of Baby-Doll in her debut episode, entitled "Baby-Doll". She was replaced by someone else when Baby-Doll re-appeared in "Love is a Croc".

Stacy Keach Jr., seen here, provided the voices of both Carl Beaumont and the Phantasm in "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm". He even looks sorta like Carl Beaumont, don't ya think?

Peter Breck provides the voice of Farmer Brown in the BTAS episode "Critters". Upon searching for this picture, I discovered a few interesting things about him...he has his own CDs (he sings? I never knew...) and he lives up in Vancouver, BC, Canada, like me! Cool huh?

Veteran actor Ed Asner provides the voice of misguided corporate businessman Roland Daggett in the original BTAS episodes. He has also provided voices for the "Spiderman" animated series, as well as "Captain Planet and the Planeteers" - which is where this picture was taken, I think.

Thomas F. Wilson, best known as the brute that bullied poor little Marty McFly in the "Back to the Future" movies, provided the voice of the killer of the Grayson family, Tony Zucco, in the two part "Robin's Reckoning" episode.

Kate Mulgrew, best known for her role on Star Trek: Voyager (or was it Deep Space Nine?), provided the voice of the terrorist Red Claw in three episodes in the "old style".

Marilu Henner plays the ever-present victim of Gotham's supervillains, millionaire Veronica Vreeland. (Yup! The Joker, Penguin, Harley, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Mad Hatter have all victimized her at some point in time.) She has also appeared in "Sub-Zero".

Diana Muldaur, seen here in an episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (or "Deep Space Nine", I forget which) provides the voice of Dr. Leslie Thompkins in a number of BTAS episodes. According to The Internet Movie Database, her work on BTAS is the most recent work she's done.

Dana Delaney, star of numerous movies (the only one I can think of off the top of my head was 1994's "Exit to Eden"), who also provides the voice of Lois Lane on STAS, first encountered the men in tights with her stint as Andrea Beaumont in "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm". (Andrea Beaumont was the Phantasm's secret identity, but that character was voiced by someone else entirely.)

Abe Vigoda provides the voice of Salvatore Valestra, the mob boss seen in "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm".

Veteran actor Ed Begley Jr., seen here alongside Jim Carrey in "Batman Forever", provided the voices of two characters on BTAS in its earliest days. He provided the voice of Charlie Collins in the episode "Joker's Favor", and the voice of Germs in the two-part episode, "Feat of Clay".

Tim Matheson provided the voice of betraying councilman Gil Mason in the two part "Shadow of the Bat" episode, and that of Veronica Vreeland's hubby in "Chemistry".

George Takei, best known for his role on the original "Star Trek" series - and the first six "Star Trek" movies - provides the role of Derek Powers' right-hand man, Mr. Fixx.

BTAS artist/writer/producer Bruce Timm provides the voice of the Jokerz Leader on "Batman Beyond". He has also provided the voice of the toy-collecting mad bomber in the BTAS episode, "Beware the Gray Ghost".

Michael Ironside, seen here in "Starship Troopers", provided the voice of the grungy, aged, 80's Batman in the Frank Miller segment of the episode "Legends of the Dark Knight". Ironside also has provided the voice for the universal overlord Darksied on the animated Superman series.

Adam West, the original Batman from the 60's series, actually did make an appearance on BTAS as the Gray Ghost, Batman's childhood mentor; West was the inspiration for many Bat-fans of today, so just having the original Batman working for the show was a wonderful experience.

Matt Frewer provided the voice of Sid the Squid, in the episode, "The Man Who Killed Batman". Frewer was first brought to my attention for his role in "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids", and has since been on various "Star Trek" series', and as one of Hades' minions on both the "Hercules" movie and TV show.

Vincent Schiavelli provided the voice of Zatara the magician, one of Bruce Wayne's mentors, in the episode "Zatanna". Schiavelli, like West, Glover, and Begley, is one of the few BTAS voice actors who has contributed elsewhere to the Bat-mythos; he played the organ grinder in the Penguin's Red Triangle Circus gang in "Batman Returns".

Ten, the youngest member of the Royal Flush Gang on Batman Beyond, is voiced by Olivia D'Abo. She has appeared in many movies over the years, but most would probably remember her the best from her large role on "The Wonder Years".

George Lazenby, the second big-screen James Bond (Sean Connery was the first) provides the voice of the aged King of the Royal Flush Gang on "Batman Beyond".

Lauren Tom, seen here in an episode of "Friends", provides a multitude of voices for supporting characters. She is currently the voice of Terry McGinnis' girlfriend Dana Tan on "Batman Beyond"; preceding this, she was the voice of newsreporter of Angela Chen on the "Superman" series, as well as one of Mr. Freeze's "Freezettes" in the BTAS episode "Cold Comfort".

Ed Gilbert is one of the most-used background character voices on BTAS. I first recognized him as the voice behind Baloo the Bear (from "Talespin", not "The Jungle Book"). He has played the following characters, for certain:

Jim Cummings is arguably the most popular voice actor in the world today, with a very impressive resume. I find him most memorable from his roles in "Darkwing Duck" (in which he played the lead character, arch villain, and more), as well as "Goof Troop", "Talespin", "Bonkers", and pretty much every Disney TV cartoon that has ever existed. He's worked in nearly every Disney movie since 1990 and is now working on various WB projects, including "Tiny Toons" and "Tazmania". On BTAS, he provided the voices of these characters:

Michael Bell is another very popular voice actor. He is currently working on "Rugrats", where he has been since 1991. He has also worked on "Darkwing Duck" and even appeared back on "Three's Company" way back in the early 80's. On BTAS, he provided voices for these characters:

Barry Bostwick, best known for his role as mayor on ABC's "Spin City", provided the voices of two supporting characters in the episode "Mean Seasons". He was both the man at Wayne Enterprises who was facing retirement, and the sleazy movie director at the GWB movie lot.

Kimmy Robertson provides two voices on the series. In the BTAS episode "Mad as a Hatter", she provided the voice of the apple of the Mad Hatter's eye, Alice. On BEYOND, she provided the voice of Margo, the woman attending to Inque's buddy at the end of "Disappearing Inque".

Actor Tim Curry ("The Rocky Horror Picture Show", "Muppet Treasure Island", "Darkwing Duck") provided a background voice in the episode "Fear of Victory". Believe it or not, Tim Curry was the original choice for the Joker's voice, but for reasons unknown, was replaced with Mark Hamill.

Heather Locklear, most famous for her role on "Melrose Place", is another of the more famous people to have a role in this series. She provided the voice of Lisa, the daughter of one of Bruce Wayne's buddies in the episode "Prophecy of Doom".

Linda Hamilton, ex-wife of "Terminator" and "Titanic" director, James Cameron, provided the voice of Bruce Wayne's wife (yes, WIFE!) in "Chemistry". She also provided the voice of Dr. Stephanie Blake in the BEYOND episode "Meltdown".

Veteran actor Malcolm McDowell (commonly confused with Roddy McDowall) provides the voice of Arkady Duvall in the episode "Showdown". He also provides the voice of Metallo on STAS, and can currently be seen on ABC's "Fantasy Island".

Dr. March, the bat-adoring doctor who appeared in "On Leather Wings" and "Terror in the Sky", was voiced by Rene Auberjonois. Auberjonois is also one of the few BTAS voice actors to appear in a Batman feature; he played Dr. Burton in "Batman Forever".

Long-time comedian Jeffrey Tambor provides the voice of Crocker, one of Roland Dagget's henchmen in the BTAS episode "Appointment in Crime Alley". For me, Tambor is best known for his various cameo roles on the 70's/80's sitcom "Three's Company", in which he played a snobby real-estate salesman, a love-struck Romeo, a psychotic doctor, and an even more psychotic dentist.

Phillip Van Dyke provides the voice of Joel, a delightfully playful parody of Joel Schumacher (director of "Batman Forever" and "Batman & Robin"), which appeared in the BTAS episode, "Legends of the Dark Knight".

Seth Green provides the voice of "Batman Beyond" bully, Nelson Nash. He also provided the voice of a trouble-making bum on the BTAS episode, "Appointment in Crime Alley". He has provided a number of guest appearances on many shows in the past decade; he's probably best known as Scott Evil, the son of Dr. Evil in the "Austin Powers" movies.

Actor Cary Elwes provides the voice of Paxton Powers, the son of Derek Powers, in the episode "Ascension" on BATMAN BEYOND. The picture to the left is of him from the 1987 movie, "The Princess Bride".

Cree Summer has contributed many voices in cartoons since the early 1980's. Here, she'd be most remembered as the voice of Penny on the classic CANADIAN "Inspector Gadget" cartoon; she would then be best known as the voice of Elmyra on "Tiny Toons" in the early 90's, and as the voice of the recurring character Susie on "Rugrats". On BATMAN BEYOND, she provides the voice of Max Gibson/Tigress.

Frank Welker provides the voice of Catwoman's pet cat, Isis, on BTAS. In fact, most of Welker's work involves animal sounds - not voices, but sounds. He provided the voice of Abu in all three "Aladdin" movies (as well as the TV series), and the "voice" of Santa's Little Helper, the Simpsons' dog, on "The Simpsons". I think he did the "voice" of Snowball II, the cat, on "The Simpsons", too.

OK, she didn't provide any voices for the series, at least to my knowledge, but Tia Carrere has been a part of BTAS before. She sang the song at the end of "Mask of the Phantasm" entitled "I Never Even Told You" (I believe it was written specially for the movie). This song is heard during the end credits of the movie and on the score/soundtrack for the movie.