Eric Bauza, the three-time Emmy winner whose performances brought Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and other Looney Tunes characters to a new generation, died Sunday, October 25. He was 46.
His family announced his death through his Instagram account. People reported that Bauza died at his residence from hypertensive cardiovascular disease, citing the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office.
The Canadian-born actor built a career spanning animation, film, and television, moving between the voices of familiar cartoon characters and roles across franchises, including Muppet Babies, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Woody Woodpecker.
"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 following his death.
Dungey also recognized Bauza's role in continuing the Looney Tunes tradition associated with Mel Blanc, the performer who originated many of the franchise's best-known voices.
Bauza's work earned three Children's & Family Emmy Awards, according to his representatives at the Coppage Company. His first came in 2022 for playing Bugs Bunny in Looney Tunes Cartoons. He won again in 2023 for Bugs Bunny Builders and in 2025 for his performances as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck in Teen Titans Go!
His film credits included multiple characters in Space Jam: A New Legacy and the voices of both Daffy Duck and Porky Pig in The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie. On television, he also played Buster Bunny in Tiny Toons, Looniversity, and Fozzie in Muppet Babies. His last role was Coyote vs. Acme, where he did voices for 12 characters.
Born in Toronto and raised in Scarborough, Bauza was of Filipino descent. His parents immigrated to Canada in the late 1960s, he said in a 2025 interview with JoySauce.
"My parents are actually immigrants from the Philippines," he told the outlet.
He described a childhood filled with Saturday morning cartoons, shared with his brother over bowls of cereal. Family traditions also gave him opportunities to experiment with sound: he recalled recording audio messages for relatives in the Philippines and becoming fascinated by the accents he heard at home,
Bauza initially worked in animation as a character designer before establishing himself as a voice actor.
His range extended to Puss in Boots, the sword-wielding cat popularized in the Shrek films by Spanish actor Antonio Banderas. Bauza took on the character for Netflix's The Adventures of Puss in Boots, which premiered in January 2015.
In an interview with Media Mikes that month, Bauza described Puss as one of his favorite characters to perform and spoke about the opportunity to take on a role associated with Banderas. The series also featured guest performers including Danny Trejo and John Leguizamo, he said.
Bauza spoke publicly about representation in his profession. In the JoySauce interview, he welcomed the pride some viewers felt seeing a performer of color behind Bugs Bunny and expressed hope that his career could encourage others to use their voices.
He is survived by his son
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