Eric Bauza, voice of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, dies at 46

Eric Bauza, the voice actor who has spoken for Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and many other Looney Tunes characters since 2018, has died at the age of 46. His family announced his death in a post on Instagram on Sunday, October 25, 2026, saying he had passed away suddenly and that more details would follow. Records of the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, cited in reports on Monday, list the cause of death as hypertensive cardiovascular disease, and say he died at his home in Los Angeles County.

Few voices in animation are as recognisable as those of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. The characters were first voiced by Mel Blanc, whose work from the 1930s onward defined how they sound. After Blanc's death in 1989, a small number of performers carried the roles forward. Bauza took on the two leading characters in 2018 and, over the following eight years, became the main voice of the Looney Tunes cast across television series, feature films, video games and commercial work.

Voice acting for classic characters is a demanding craft. The performer has to match a sound that audiences have heard for decades, while giving enough life to the character that new writing still feels fresh. Bauza was widely seen as doing both. In her statement, Dungey linked his work to Blanc's legacy and described him as a treasured part of the studio's animation family. Fellow voice actors, including Grey DeLisle and Jim Cummings, posted tributes on social media.

His death also comes at a busy moment for the franchise. Coyote vs. Acme features him as Bugs, Daffy, Tweety, Elmer and Foghorn, and as the Road Runner. He had also been preparing to voice Daffy Duck in a planned project, Bye Bye Bunny: A Looney Tunes Musical. Warner Bros. has not said who will take over the roles or how work in progress will be handled.

For the wider industry, his death is a reminder of how much a long-running brand depends on a handful of performers. Bauza's credits also stretched well beyond Looney Tunes, to series such as The Fairly OddParents!, Ben 10: Omniverse, Uncle Grandpa and Breadwinners, which means several productions have lost a regular performer at once.

Short-term: Studios, fans and colleagues are paying tribute, and Warner Bros. will need to decide how to complete or schedule projects in which Bauza had recorded or was due to record lines. Coverage of Coyote vs. Acme and other upcoming Looney Tunes releases is likely to focus on his final performances.

Long-term: The franchise will have to choose a new lead voice, or several, for its central characters. Past handovers show that this takes time and careful casting, because audiences notice small changes in how a familiar character sounds. His death has also drawn attention to hypertensive heart disease, a condition that often has no clear symptoms until it causes serious harm.

Who is affected: Bauza's family; the Looney Tunes production teams and his fellow voice actors; the studios and distributors behind current and planned films and series; and the many children and adults around the world who grew up with or still watch the characters he voiced.

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