Eric Bauza, 1979 – 2026

Voice actor Eric Bauza, who took over many of Mel Blanc’s characters, died of heart disease on Oct. 25. He was 46. Bauza started his career as as an intern at Spümcø, taking over Stimpy’s voice from Billy West. He eventually went on to voice Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety, Marvin the Martian, and Woody Woodpecker, working in more than 400 movies, TV shows, and video games. Among the more notable were Coyote v. Acme, Surly Squirrel, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, Bob’s Burgers (taking over Jimmy Pesto when Jay Johnston was booted out), SpongeBob SquarePants, The Fairly OddParents, Uncle Grandpa, Guardians of the Galaxy, Bunnicula, The Powerpuff Girls, Animaniacs, American Dad!, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. (Some of them have such intriguing porny titles as Captain Biceps, Dick Figures, Bobby Bigloaf, The Naughty List, and Weekend Pussy Hunt). Bauza told Full Circle magazine, “I’ve just always just been a performer. Growing up, I loved making people laugh. I was that smart-ass in school. I’d get into trouble for doing impressions of my teachers, and I would do impressions of cartoon voices, but would never consider them to be anything more than a way to make my friends laugh. I was the class clown, and somehow I managed to turn it into a career for myself.”