Voice actor Eric Bauza, whose career spanned more than two decades and includes roles in animated series “Unikitty!,” “Rick and Morty” and, most notably, fresh takes on the “Looney Tunes” franchise, has died.
Bauza died Sunday in his home of hypertensive cardiovascular disease, the Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s office determined. He was 46. The actor’s family announced Bauza’s death in a statement shared to his Instagram page. The statement said the Children’s & Family Emmy winner “passed away suddenly” and that additional details would be shared at a later time. The medical examiner’s office also noted that Bauza lived with sleep apnea and class 2 obesity.
Since the beginning of his career in the early aughts, Bauza lent his voice to a wide range of animated series, from several characters on Nickelodeon’s beloved “Fairly OddParents” franchise to Cartoon Network and Adult Swim’s zany series “Uncle Grandpa” and “Rick and Morty.” He was best known for breathing new life into the classic “Looney Tunes” characters including Porky Pig, Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny. He voiced the beloved figures for “Looney Tunes Cartoons,” “Space Jam: A New Legacy” and the recent comedy “Coyote vs. Acme.”
Warner Bros. Animation, home of the “Looney Tunes” franchise, honored Bauza in a statement, writing that he “brought joy and laughter to millions around the world.” The animation giant said that Bauza, who worked with Warner Bros. for 15 years, followed in the steps of original voice actor Mel Blanc and recalled that Bauza felt carrying on the “Looney Tunes” torch was “among the greatest honors of his life.”
“In addition to his incredible talent, Eric was a treasured part of our animation family,” the statement said. “Our hearts go out to his loved ones.”
Bauza, who also voiced DreamWorks’ Puss in Boots and Luke Skywalker in various “Star Wars”-Lego projects, earned three statuettes at the Children’s & Family Emmy Awards over the course of his career. Two of those prizes were for “Looney Tunes”-related work. The third was for his work on “Teen Titans Go!,” where he voiced several characters.
Bauza, who was of Filipino descent and based in Toronto before moving to Los Angeles, concerned himself with the technical aspects of Hollywood production before voicing some of its most recognizable characters. Growing up, he was enamored with cartoons and was interested in the craft of voice acting, but never studied theatrics or drama, he recalled to podcaster Zach Sang in 2025, while promoting his “Looney Tunes” film. His first job in Hollywood was as a production assistant for “Ren & Stimpy Show” production house Spümcø, paving the way for decades of work in animation.
“It’s giving me a chance to say thanks to these characters that ultimately shaped who I became and who I am and hopefully to extend their legacy to generations,” Bauza told Sang about his career.
After joking that he tells his son, “When I die, you sell these Emmys for whatever you want,” Bauza expressed hope for a struggling Hollywood that in recent years faced the toll of wildfires, strikes, a pandemic and more.
“I never thought in a million years that I would be lucky enough to be only the sixth person to play Bugs and to be awarded with it,” Bauza said elsewhere in his conversation with Sang. “If it weren’t for him, I would be driving you guys home in my Uber after the show.”
John Cena, Bauza’s “Coyote vs. Acme” co-star, said the voice actor’s passion for legacy cartoon characters “was always evident” and expressed his condolences to Bauza’s family. Fellow stars of the voice acting community also remembered Bauza after his family shared news of his death.
On Instagram, “Phineas and Ferb” voice actor Vincent Martella remembered Bauza for his kindness and said the late actor was a “titan in our industry.”
Jack Quaid, star of “The Boys” and “My Adventures With Superman,” also spoke to Bauza’s kindness and said he “always looked up to him both as a voice actor and as a person.” Performers Erika Ishii (“Ghost of Yōtei”) and Kate Micucci (“Unikitty!”) and Jorge R. Gutierrez, co-creator of Nickelodeon’s “El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera,” were also among the colleagues paying tribute to Bauza.
“My life was immeasurably changed for the better by having met Eric Bauza in 2003,” Gutierrez captioned a photo of Bauza posing with a cardboard cutout of his “El Tigre” character. “He just made everything he worked on better. A generational talent. A legend.”
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