Eric Bauza, the Toronto-born voice actor who breathed fresh life into some of Hollywood’s most iconic animated characters, died on Sunday at age 46.
His family said on social media his death was sudden and the Los Angeles Medical Examiner listed the cause as heart disease.
Bauza, who was born and raised in Scarborough, got his start as an animator before moving to the recording booth and becoming a modern successor to Mel Blanc — the original voice of numerous Looney Tunes cartoons, including Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.
“Looney Tunes will always have a special place in my heart,” Bauza said earlier this year. “I watched them on Saturday mornings originally. It’s not just the voice but the overall esthetic has influenced me as an artist.”
In 2018, Bauza — who was Filipino-Canadian — became the first non-white actor to voice Bugs Bunny. He went on to voice Bugs, Daffy and more in “Looney Tunes Cartoons,” which ran on HBO Max for six seasons starting in 2020.
He won three Children’s and Family Emmy Awards for “Teen Titans Go!,” “Bugs Bunny Builders” and “Looney Tunes Cartoons.”
What set Bauza apart was his range, said animation historian Jerry Beck, who considered Bauza a friend.
“They couldn’t replace Mel Blanc because no one could do all the voices. You might do a good Bugs Bunny, but you couldn’t do Speedy Gonzalez or Pepe Le Pew or whatever,” Beck said.
“So they would hire different people who could nail those voices as best they could. Eric is an unbelievable discovery because he could do all of them. He can even do the people who weren’t Mel Blanc in those old Looney Tunes, like Elmer Fudd.”
Bauza reprised the roles over and over again, including in the film “Coyote vs. Acme,” which came out this summer, years after it was filmed.
It almost didn’t see the light of day after Warner Bros. canned the finished film as a tax writeoff; but a campaign to release it, led in part by Bauza, convinced the production company to put the project up for sale.
He pushed the hashtag #ReleaseCoyoteVsACME on social media, and at the 2024 Annie Awards made the case from the podium in the voice of Daffy Duck.
Eventually, an independent distributor bought the film and released it to glowing reviews.
Bauza was also a regular on the convention circuit, and spoke on a panel at Lightbox Expo in Pasadena, Calif., the day before he died.
Beck moderated that panel, and described Bauza as “vibrant.”
A lifelong lover of cartoons, Bauza said it was somewhat surreal to become a pillar of the scene.
“We grew up watching this stuff as it was happening. I was buying those Transformers as they were being made,” he told The Canadian Press in 2022.
“Fast forward, and I’m auditioning for the reboots — I buy a toy that I’m voicing, which is a Transformer that my son’s now into, so it’s kind of like a cat eating its tail.”
Bauza’s lengthy list of credits also includes “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “Bob’s Burgers.”
But for fellow Canadian voice actor David Kaye, who voiced Megatron in the Transformers series, Bauza will always be a friend first.
“He’s just a good man, No. 1,” Kaye said on Monday, as he was still coming to terms with the news of his friend’s death.
Kaye first met Bauza back in the early 2000s, when they were both cast in “Coconut Fred’s Fruit Salad Island!”
“He played these duelling twin bananas and we were just non-stop laughter, and we’re just like, ‘Who’s this guy?'” he recalled. “I saw his talent right away.”
They remained close, even as Bauza’s career took off and filled his schedule.
“He was pulled in so many different directions, and I became sort of jealous,” not of his success, Kaye said, but because “I wanted to spend more time with him.”
From left, Bugs Bunny, voice actor Eric Bauza and Daffy Duck attends the Entertainment Community Fund gala benefit at the Marriott Marquis on Monday, April 8, 2024, in New York.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Invision/AP-Andy Kropa
Comedian Kristen Schaal, who voices Louise Belcher on “Bob’s Burgers,” paid tribute to Bauza on Instagram on Monday.
“When I found out he was coming to a ‘Bob’s Burgers’ table read it honestly felt like we had been blessed by the Elvis of voice actors,” she wrote.
“I obviously didn’t know him that well. I only knew his immense talent.”
Actor John Cena thanked Bauza “for giving our favourites their ‘voice.'”
“His excitement and love for them was always evident, his passion undeniable. Saddened to hear of this sudden, tragic news. My heart and thoughts are with Eric’s family and loved ones,” he wrote.
In an online tribute, fellow voice actor Josh Keaton said Bauza was a gifted and humble performer.
“He let his talent speak for itself and made everyone feel like he was their biggest fan,” Keaton said on social media.
“He will always be a legend but I’m devastated that I’ll never be able to give him a hug, or hear him joke or see him smile again.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2026.
-with files from Aaron Sousa.
By Nicole Thompson | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.