Eric Bauza, voice of Looney Tunes characters, dies at 46

Eric Bauza, the award-winning voice actor whose performances of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and many more characters made him the modern voice of Looney Tunes, has died. He was 46. Bauza died suddenly late on Sunday, his family said in a statement. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner reported that he died at his home from hypertensive cardiovascular disease.

Beginning in 2001, Bauza amassed more than 400 voice acting credits in a career that gave voice to beloved characters in animated Looney Tunes series including “Puss in Boots,” “Muppet Babies,” “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” and countless others. He won three Children’s and Family Emmy Awards, from 2022 to 2025.

“Looney Tunes will always have a special place in my heart,” Bauza said in an interview with The Associated Press this year. “I watched them on Saturday mornings originally. It’s not just the voice but the overall aesthetic has influenced me as an artist.” Raised in Scarborough, Ontario by Filipino immigrant parents, Bauza found his passion for voice acting as a teenager. In high school, he would deliver the PA system morning announcements in various cartoon voices.

In voicing Looney Tunes characters, Bauza faithfully and reverentially channeled Mel Blanc. So great was his affection for Blanc that, in conversation, he would even toss out an impression of Blanc outside the recording booth. Bauza last year told The New York Times: “Mel Blanc is like the voice of God for me.”

Bauza’s Looney Tunes work included such feature films as “Space Jam: A New Legacy” (2021), “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie” (2024) and this year’s “Coyote vs. Acme.” That film, in which Wile E. Coyote takes the Acme Corporation to court for its defective products, became a modest cause célèbre after Warner Bros. opted not to release it.

After an outcry from fans, partly stoked by Bauza, the film eventually found a distributor in Ketchup Entertainment and surpassed $100 million at the worldwide box office. While the film was in limbo, Bauza argued for its release at the 2024 Annie Awards, in the voice of Daffy Duck.

“He’s the go-to cartoon character above anyone else when it comes to begging and pleading,” Bauza explained. “It seemed appropriate.” Before becoming one of the most recognized personalities in the often anonymous field of voice acting, Bauza pursued working in animation production. After graduating from the film programme at Toronto’s Centennial College, Bauza first worked as animator and character layout artist. Initially, he did voice acting on the side.

Channing Dungey, chairman of Warner Bros. Television Group and US Networks, called Bauza “a unique voice talent who brought joy and laughter to millions.” As a voice acting professional, Bauza sometimes chafed at celebrities brought in to replace him in bigger-budgeted productions. Bauza occasionally voice-matched for stars including Bill Hader on “Bob’s Burgers” and Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots.

“From my experience working several times in the feature film format, there’s always the reminder that it is ‘temporary dialogue’ and ‘Chris Pratt will be voicing all the Looney Tunes in this feature film’ - no, just kidding,” Bauza told The AP.

But even in productions where A-list stars took the spotlight, Bauza said there was still room for “nine-to-fivers like me” to color in the scenery. Bauza, who seldom went more than a few minutes without slipping into the voice of Bugs or Daffy or some other character, was rarely anything but grateful at being part of the Looney Tunes legacy. “The Looney Tunes were here before I was born and they’re definitely going to be here long after I leave this realm,” he said shortly before the release of “Coyote vs. Acme.” “I just feel like the luckiest guy.”

Associated Press