Variety reports prolific Canadian voice actor Eric Bauza died at his home in Los Angeles on Sunday, October 25, as a result of hypertensive cardiovascular disease. He was 46 years old. Bauza was best-known for being the primary voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and other Looney Tunes characters since 2018, for whom he won the first Children’s and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice Performance in an Animated Program in 2022.
Other roles included Splinter on Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018-20), the title character on The Adventures of Puss in Boots (2015–18) and in The Last Wish‘s DVD short film The Trident, and Luke Skywalker on several LEGO Star Wars projects. He lent his voice to countless Marvel, DC, and Scooby-Doo! projects (including the 2018 Supernatural crossover “Scoobynatural”), several Transformers shows, DuckTales, Invincible, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Seven Havens, and many more.
Bauza was born to Filipino parents in Toronto on December 7, 1979, and studied Radio, Television, and Film at the city’s Centennial College. He began his career in animation as a character designer, before branching into voice acting, and broke out by taking over the role of Stimpy on Spike TV’s Ren & Stimpy “Adult Party Cartoon” in 2003. He took on the role of Marvin the Martian for 2011’s The Looney Tunes Show, and reprised the part while also taking on the voice of Pepé Le Pew on 2015’s New Looney Tunes series.
He began voicing Bugs and Daffy themselves with the 2018 video game Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem, and on TV with 2020’s Looney Tunes Cartoons. Bauza earned media attention for becoming the first person of color to voice Bugs; in an NBC News interview, he commented, “Even if you don’t have the same faces as me, background or culture, even if you’re just scared to use your own voice, I hope that this is very encouraging for you. I hope that it gives you some kind of confidence to use your own voice and to be strong.”
Bauza reprised the roles in the big screen outings Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021), The Day the Earth Blew Up (2025), and Coyote vs. Acme (2026). He won the Emmy for Outstanding Voice Performer twice, first for Looney Tunes Cartoons, and then for a guest performance as the characters on Teen Titans Go! in 2025; he also won Outstanding Voice Performance in a Preschool Animated Program for Bugs Bunny Builders in 2023, and was nominated for several Annie Awards and Daytime Emmys.
The announcement of his death by his family was met with shock and disbelief from many in the voice acting community, including David Kaye, Josh Keaton, and Grey DeLisle, who responded he was “one of the most talented, kind, funny, generous souls. I can’t comprehend this.” Jack Quaid said, “I always looked up to him both as a voice actor and as a person. What an absolute legend and one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. Sending love to the entire family. We’re gonna miss you, buddy.”
Coyote vs. Acme producer Chris DeFaria, and Warner Bros. Television Group chairman Channing Dungey provided statements on Bauza’s passing. The latter said, “He followed in the footsteps of giants like Mel Blanc. Eric said that carrying on the legendary legacy of the Looney Tunes was among the greatest honors of his life. In addition to his incredible talent, Eric was a treasured part of our animation family. Our hearts go out to his loved ones.”
At the time of his death, Bauza was working on the movie Bye Bye Bunny: A Looney Tunes Musical, and TV series The Dragon Masters. Information on his survivors weren’t available at the time of writing, although he had a son. Our condolences towards them, and all of Bauza’s friends, fans, and colleagues at this difficult time.
