Eric Bauza, Modern Voice of Bugs Bunny, Dies at 46
The Emmy-winning actor, who also voiced Daffy Duck and other Looney Tunes characters, was due at a Warner Bros. premiere on Sunday, according to press documents.
Eric Bauza, the Emmy-winning voice actor who played Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and other Looney Tunes characters in recent years, has died at 46. His family announced the death on Sunday in a post on his Instagram account.
The post called him "the modern voice of iconic Looney Tunes characters Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, along with dozens of other beloved cartoon characters" and said he had "passed away suddenly." It added that more details would follow. The date of his death was not given.
Bauza was scheduled to attend the Sunday afternoon premiere of Warner Bros. Pictures Animation's The Cat in the Hat, according to press documents. He was there to support Daffy Season, a short that plays before the film.
Tributes from Warner Bros.
Channing Dungey, chairman of Warner Bros. Television Group and U.S. Networks, paid tribute in a statement. "Eric Bauza was a unique voice talent who brought joy and laughter to millions around the world," she said, noting his 15 years at Warner Bros. Animation. "He followed in the footsteps of giants like Mel Blanc."
Dungey said Bauza had described carrying on the Looney Tunes legacy as one of the greatest honors of his life.
A career built on cartoons
In this year's Looney Tunes film Coyote vs. Acme, Bauza voiced Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety, Elmer Fudd, Foghorn Leghorn, Porky Pig, Road Runner and Charlie the Dog, among others. He also voiced Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Foghorn Leghorn, Elmer Fudd and Marvin the Martian in Space Jam: A New Legacy, and Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck in the series Looney Tunes Cartoons. Most of those roles began with Blanc.
Bauza was born on December 7, 1979, in Toronto and had lived in Los Angeles more recently. He began in animation as a character designer for several Hollywood studios, according to his biography at SBV Talent, the agency that represented him.
He earned Daytime Emmy, Children's and Family Emmy and Annie Award nominations for playing the title character in The Adventures of Puss in Boots, Fozzie in Muppet Babies, and Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck in Looney Tunes Cartoons.
His other credits include Unikitty, Star vs. The Forces of Evil, Uncle Grandpa, The Powerpuff Girls, The Fairly OddParents, Ultimate Spider-Man and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He voiced characters in The Book of Life and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, played Woody Woodpecker in Universal's animated film, and recently appeared in DreamWorks Animation's Forgotten Island.
His commercial work included Lucky the Leprechaun for Lucky Charms, the Trix Rabbit and Marvin the Martian for Nike.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter