Tara Strong Honors Eric Bauza in Heartbreaking Post: #BeLikeBauza

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Tara Strong Honors Eric Bauza in Heartbreaking Post: #BeLikeBauza

Tara Strong remembered the late voice actor Eric Bauza in a touching and heartbreaking post, urging fans to #BeLikeBauza in life.

Published Mon, 26 Oct 2026 13:27:09 -0500
by Ray Flook
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Article Summary

• Tara Strong pays heartbreaking tribute to Eric Bauza, remembering his kindness, talent, and radiant spirit.
• Strong urges fans to #BeLikeBauza by leading with love, generosity, forgiveness, and everyday compassion.
• Eric Bauza’s remarkable voice acting career spanned Looney Tunes, DuckTales, Muppet Babies, and more.
• From Stimpy to Bugs Bunny, Eric Bauza became an Emmy-winning animation icon beloved across generations.

On Sunday night, the shocking news hit that veteran voice actor Eric Bauza had died at the age of 46. Born in Toronto on December 7th, 1979, Bauza's breakthrough role came in 2003, taking over voicing Stimpy from Billy West for Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon." From there, Bauza's voice-acting career would span dozens of characters across films, television shows, video games, and more. We're talking everything from DuckTales, Muppet Babies, and Bob's Burgers, to Batman Ninja, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie, Buddy, and more. But perhaps Bauza's biggest claim to voice-acting fame was his voice work for several classic Looney Tunes characters, leading to three Emmy Award wins: Looney Tunes Cartoons (2020–2024), Bugs Bunny Builders (2022–2025), and Teen Titans Go! (2024). As the pop culture community pays tribute to his love of animation and voice acting, fellow veteran voice actor Tara Strong has taken to social media to honor Bauza and urge others to live through his example – to #BeLikeBauza.

"I can't believe this is real. I don't want to believe it. He was so young. So full of life, light, and love. Incredible father, son, and friend. He was always there for me during some extremely challenging times. He was a gift to this planet, no question. Sweetest most talented human. The first time I met Eric Bauza, he was fresh off the plane from my hometown, #Toronto. He joined the cast of #Fairlyoddparents & within moments of hearing what this guy could do, I told him, 'You're gonna be a really big star'. I don't tell very many people this, maybe one other person ever, but it was love at first sight for his extraordinary talent & luminescent personality. Throughout the years we worked together & hung out countless times, and he was consistently extraordinary in all ways…a true mensch & so funny, a real wascally wabbit. He was beyond generous. If he saw merch of a character I played, he would buy it for me. I will forever have the visual of him schlepping a giant #TwilightSparkle cardboard cutout from a movie theater into my house." Strong wrote in a heartfelt Instagram post, which included images of their time together over the years.

Strong continued, "He was vivacious, he lit up every room he walked into, and you couldn't help but smile around him. For my kids, and for any kid…including grown-up kids, he would delight by doing voices & birthday messages as one of his legendary characters without being asked. He was the absolute #goat. He was a master of mimicry. I've seen others do impressions, but that wasn't Bauza, he EMBODIED them. His ability to create new characters was unparalleled. He was the FOOP to my POOF, the WOODY to my WINNIE, the MASTER FROWN to my UNIKITTY. The world is scary, the internet can be cruel, for [Bauza] …be sweet, be kind. Tell the people in your world you love them. Don't sweat the small stuff. Forgive, be generous, help other people without the expectation of getting something back. If you can say or do the thing that makes someone smile, that illuminates their day, do that. #BeLikeBauza 💔."

Born in Toronto on December 7th, 1979, Bauza's breakthrough role came in 2003, taking over voicing Stimpy from Billy West for Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon." From there, Bauza's voice-acting career would span dozens of characters across films, television shows, video games, and more. We're talking everything from DuckTales, Muppet Babies, and Bob's Burgers, to Batman Ninja, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie, Buddy, and so much more. But perhaps Bauza's biggest claim to voice-acting fame was his voice work for several classic Looney Tunes characters, leading to three Emmy Award wins: Looney Tunes Cartoons (2020–2024), Bugs Bunny Builders (2022–2025), and Teen Titans Go! (2024).

"Oh, man, Saturday morning cartoons, when you could only see cartoons at a certain time. Now, in this day and age, you just have to look on your phone. But when I was growing up in the 80s, cartoons could only be seen on Saturday mornings and after school. That's when my obsession with the Warner Bros. franchise took over, not just Looney Tunes but Animaniacs and Tiny Toons, Freakazoid!, Batman: The Animated Series, Histeria!, Taz-Mania. Every Warner Bros. cartoon. I love Disney, [as Daffy] "but I just looooove Warner Bros," Bauza shared during a 2020 interview, explaining where his love for animation first started.

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