Culture 3 min read By Trevor Kendall
Eric Bauza, voix de Bugs Bunny et Daffy Duck, meurt à 46 ans
Eric Bauza, the Emmy-winning voice actor behind Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, has died at 46, his family announced.
Eric Bauza, the Emmy Award-winning voice actor behind Looney Tunes characters such as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, died Sunday at his home, according to Los Angeles County Medical Examiner records. He was 46. The cause of death was hypertensive cardiovascular disease, the records show.
Bauza's death was announced by his family, who shared a statement on the actor's Instagram page. The news spread quickly across the entertainment industry, where Bauza had become one of the most visible voices in classic American animation. Fans who followed the announcement online described it as a loss felt well beyond the studio walls, since his voices were heard by children and adults who grew up with the characters.
Channing Dungey, chairman of Warner Bros. Television Group and US Networks, paid tribute to Bauza shortly after the family's announcement. "He followed in the footsteps of giants like Mel Blanc," Dungey said. Blanc originated Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and many other Looney Tunes characters during the golden age of Warner Bros. animation, and he remains the most celebrated figure in the history of the studio's voice work. Bauza was tasked with filling those shoes and carrying the characters' signature rhythms and personalities to a new generation of viewers.
Bauza's work extended well beyond Looney Tunes. Animation audiences also knew him for his roles in Scooby-Doo, Ben 10 and Batman projects, as well as his voice work in Mario films. Across these productions, he moved between classic Warner Bros. characters and newer franchises, a range that made him a familiar presence in households that followed both legacy and contemporary cartoons.
His Emmy Award recognized his contributions to animation, a field in which voice performers often work without public visibility despite shaping the characters audiences remember most. Tributes that followed the announcement emphasized that craft: the timing, the comic delivery and the ability to make decades-old personalities feel fresh. Dungey's comparison to Blanc placed Bauza within a lineage of performers who sustained studio characters long after their original creators were gone.
The death is likely to renew attention on the performers who keep legacy animation properties alive, and on the lasting value of the voice work behind characters that have endured for generations.
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