Voiceover and Casting Director Andrea Romano Retires

Multiple pop culture news websites such as Comic Book Resources, IGN, and Newsarama have confirmed that after 33 years of bringing some of the most iconic pop culture characters to life, voice over and casting director Andrea Romano has announced her retirement.

Ms. Romano started her lengthy career in 1984 when legendary animation company Hanna-Barbera hired her. The Long Island, New York native immediately got to work and assisted in bringing a plethora of cartoon series to life. Among the series that she worked on included The Jetsons, The Smurfs, The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo, and Yogi’s Treasure Hunt.

But in 1985, Ms. Romano’s life was changed when she first got her taste of casting actors to voice a group of characters that redefined her career: the DC Comics heroes and villains. For ten episodes, The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians featured the adventures of Batman, Robin, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, and in their first animation debuts, Firestorm and Cyborg. Among the actors that Romano worked with included B.J. Ward (Wonder Woman), Casey Kasem (Robin), Danny Dark (Superman/Bizarro Number One), Frank Welker (Darkseid and the Joker), and the late Adam West (Batman).

Enter Batman: The Animated Series

Despite the series’ conclusion, Ms. Romano was reunited with the DC Comics characters seven years later when Warner Bros. Animation hired her to bring the Dark Knight’s world to life for the iconic Batman: The Animated Series. As both the Casting and Voice Director, Ms. Romano was responsible for bringing Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill into the fold as they have voiced Batman and the Joker respectively. In addition to casting the iconic pairing, Romano welcomed a plethora of actors into the DC Animated Universe such as Loren Lester (Robin/Nightwing/Dick Grayson), Tara Strong (Batgirl/Barbara Gordon II), Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (Alfred Pennyworth), Arleen Sorkin (Harley Quinn), Richard Moll (Two-Face), Adrienne Barbeau (Catwoman), and the late Michael Ansara (Mr. Freeze) and David Warner (Ra’s Al Ghul).

She continued to bring the DC Animated Universe to life with 1996’s Superman: The Animated Series, 1997’s The New Batman Adventures, 1999’s Batman Beyond, 2001’s Justice League, and 2003’s Teen Titans. Joining Conroy, Hamill, and Romano in these new endeavors included an all-star group of actors such as Clancy Brown (Lex Luthor), Tim Daly (Superman), Dana Delany (Lois Lane), Gilbert Gottfried (Mr. Mxyzptlk), Will Friedle (Terry McGuiness), Susan Eisenberg (Wonder Woman), C.C.H. Pounder (Amanda Waller), Greg Cipes (Beast Boy), Hynden Walch (Starfire), and Ron Perlman (Slade).

Once the DC Animated Universe ended its run on television in 2006 with the final episode of Justice League Unlimited, Ms. Romano worked on numerous animated series including SpongeBob SquarePants (2007 to 2012), Ben 10: Alien Force (2008 to 2010), The Legend of Korra (2012 to 2014), and Voltron: Legendary Defender (2016 to 2017) as a Voice Director. She also voice directed the 2010 video game StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.

But Ms. Romano did not stray far from her DC Comics animated roots as voice directed or was the casting director for nearly 20 DC Universe Animated Original Movies. This series brings classic comic book storylines to life. In addition to reuniting with Conroy, Daly, Eisenberg, Hamill, and Strong for numerous projects such as Justice League: Doom and Batman: The Killing Joke, Romano recruited a surplus of voice talent such as Matt Bomer (Superman), John Noble (Brainiac), Jason O’Mara (Batman), Stuart Allan (Damian Wayne), Nathan Fillion (Green Lantern/Hal Jordan), and Morena Baccarin (Talia al Ghul) for countless films.

On behalf of the entire fandom, GEEKS salutes Ms. Romano for all of her hard work and dedication to bringing our favorite characters to life for the past 33 years. We wish you nothing but the best for the next chapter in your career.