The untimely death of award-winning Scarborough-born voice actor Eric Bauza is resonating from the GTA to Hollywood.
Bauza died Sunday at the age of 46. His family confirmed his death in a post on Instagram late Sunday night, saying he had “passed away suddenly.”
The cause of death was hypertensive cardiovascular disease, according to the County of Los Angeles medical examiner.
Bauza was the voice of iconic “Looney Tunes” characters like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, and was the modern successor to legendary voice actor Mel Blanc.
Bauza was a prolific voice actor with more than 400 credits to his name, having appeared in TV shows, movies and video games. Recently, the Filipino-Canadian starred in “Coyote vs. Acme,” the critically acclaimed animation/live-action hybrid film that was released in August following a legal battle after originally being slated for release three years earlier.
He also played two characters on “Bob’s Burgers” and appeared on shows like “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “X-Men ‘97.” The late actor won three Children’s and Family Emmy Awards from 2022 to 2025 for his work on two different “Looney Tunes” shows and “Teen Titans Go!”
A clip of Bauza showing off his talents — voicing Porky Pig standing in for a grizzled Liam Neeson in the revenge thriller “Taken” — went viral just a few weeks ago.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow took a moment from campaigning on election day Monday to post a tribute to Bauza on social media. Chow wrote that Bauza “represented our city — and Scarborough — so well, with his immense creative talent and love for Toronto.”
Bauza penned a love letter to Scarborough for the Star in December 2020.
“I always loved living in Scarborough: My first memories were playing with my friends on Linden Avenue,” Bauza wrote. “We’d go to Scarborough Town Centre to play video games at Wizard’s Castle, and Cedarbrae 8 to watch movies like ‘Wayne’s World,’ ‘Batman’ and ‘Gremlins 2.’ I’d play baseball with my cousins in Corvette Park.”
Bauza added that “the saddest part about leaving home was leaving my family behind. The first time I knew Scarborough was a special place was when I left it.”
Actor and wrestler John Cena starred alongside Bauza in “Coyote vs. Acme.” Cena thanked Bauza “for giving our favourites their ‘voice’” and wrote that the late actor’s “excitement and love for them was always evident, his passion undeniable.”
Kristen Schaal plays Louise Belcher on “Bob’s Burgers.” She wrote Monday that Bauza “radiated kindness” when she first saw him on the Emmys and called him “the Elvis of voice actors” in a post on Instagram.
Many of Bauza’s other colleagues in the voice-acting community expressed condolences in replies to his family’s post on Instagram.
Dan Povenmire, the co-creator of “Phineas & Ferb” called the news “devastating” and wrote that he had just been thinking about how happy he was that Bauza was being recognized “for his immense talent” with the critical success of “Coyote vs. Acme.”
Jim Cummings is the modern voice of the Tasmanian Devil in “Looney Tunes,” along with Winnie the Pooh and many others elsewhere. Cummings wrote that he was at a loss for words and called Bauza “such a young, kind man.”
Comedian and voice actor Ron Funches thanked Bauza for all of his “art and magic and kindness.”
Jack Quaid, who voices Superman on “My Adventures with Superman,” wrote: “I always looked up to him both as a voice actor and as a person … What an absolute legend and one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. Sending love to the entire family. We’re gonna miss you, buddy.”
Bauza appeared as a guest on “Pablo Torre Finds Out” on Sept. 1. He talked about how his 10-year-old son would ask him to do his iconic voices, and how his son was already starting to do voices of his own.
Torre, the Pulitzer Prize-winning independent journalist, expressed disbelief in a post Monday, calling Bauza’s death “a shattering loss.”
The U.S.-based Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) also posted a tribute to Bauza on Monday morning.
Bauza graduated from Centennial College’s Radio, Television and Film program in 2000.
