Eric Bauza, the Emmy-winning voice actor who became the modern voice of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, has died. He was 46.
Bauza’s family announced his sudden passing on Sunday in a post on his Instagram, writing that he “has passed away suddenly” and that more details are to come, news reported by The Hollywood Reporter. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, Bauza died of hypertensive cardiovascular disease. He had been scheduled to attend Sunday afternoon’s premiere of The Cat in the Hat to support Daffy Season, a new Daffy Duck short playing ahead of the film.
For a generation of cartoon fans, Bauza was simply the voice of the Looney Tunes. He followed in the footsteps of the legendary Mel Blanc as the voice of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck in Looney Tunes Cartoons, and carried five of Blanc’s characters in Space Jam: A New Legacy: Daffy, Porky Pig, Foghorn Leghorn, Elmer Fudd and Marvin the Martian. In this year’s Coyote vs. Acme, which Trevor Decker News covered from its first trailer, he voiced Bugs, Daffy, Tweety, Elmer, Foghorn, Porky, the Road Runner, Charlie the Dog and more, nearly the whole troupe by himself. He also headlined The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie as both Porky and Daffy.
The industry honored that work again and again. In 2022, Bauza won the first Children’s & Family Emmy Award ever given for voice performance, for Looney Tunes Cartoons. He added a second for Bugs Bunny Builders in 2023 and a third for Teen Titans Go! in 2025, where he played Bugs and Daffy.
His range stretched far beyond the Warner Bros. lot. He led Netflix’s The Adventures of Puss in Boots in the title role, played Baby Fozzie in Disney Junior’s Muppet Babies, voiced Master Splinter in Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and became Woody Woodpecker for Universal. Younger fans may even know his voice from the cereal aisle, as Lucky the Leprechaun for Lucky Charms and the Trix Rabbit for Trix.
Bauza grew up in Ontario, Canada, where his father and grandfather introduced him to the classic cartoons he would one day voice. He started his animation career behind the pencil as a character designer before moving into the recording booth.
“Eric Bauza was a unique voice talent who brought joy and laughter to millions around the world,” Warner Bros. Television Group chairman Channing Dungey said in a statement, noting that Bauza considered carrying on the Looney Tunes legacy “among the greatest honors of his life” and calling him a treasured part of the studio’s animation family.
Bauza is survived by his wife, Jessica, and their son.