Eric Bauza, the Voice of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, Dies at 46

Eric Bauza, the voice actor behind Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck for the modern Looney Tunes, has died at 46. His family said in a short Instagram statement that he "passed away suddenly." The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office listed hypertensive cardiovascular disease, a heart condition caused by long-term high blood pressure.

The hardest chair in animation

Every kid who grew up in the 80s heard Mel Blanc first. Following Blanc is the voice-acting version of replacing a legend at quarterback, and Bauza took over a whole roster: Bugs, Daffy, Porky Pig, Road Runner, Elmer Fudd and dozens more.

The test is simple. If your kids can watch the new cartoons and you can't tell anything changed, the guy did his job. Bauza passed that test for years. He won three Emmy Awards for his Looney Tunes work and performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl last year.

400 credits deep

Born in Canada, Bauza built a career of more than 400 acting credits, including the Space Jam and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films. His most recent Looney Tunes film was Coyote vs. Acme. Earlier this month The Hollywood Reporter put him on its 2026 Animation Power List and wrote that he had "quietly become the voice of an entire cartoon universe."

His manager, Judy Coppage, called him "a unique and versatile voice actor who was loved by everyone he knew and worked with."

A word to the guys reading this

Forty-six is young. The cause listed was a heart condition from long-term high blood pressure, which is the kind of thing a lot of men put off checking. If you haven't had yours taken in a while, this is your sign.