Born in Derby, England,[2] Conroy began acting on stage in 1908.

He was responsible for building the Greenwich Village Theatre which opened in 1917, and he directed productions of the repertory theater there for three years.

[2] He appeared in more than 40 Broadway plays, beginning with The Passing Show of 1913 (1913) and ending with Calculated Risk (1962).

[4] He won a Tony Award for best supporting actor for his performance in Graham Greene's The Potting Shed (1957).

[2] Conroy's work on television included appearances on Kraft Theater and The Play of the Week.