Eric Bauza's Posthumous 'Simpsons' Debut Airs Nov. 15 on Fox

By Elena Vasquez

Eric Bauza will make his "The Simpsons" debut on Nov. 15, more than a week after his death at 46. The voice actor, whose credits exceed 400 roles, plays two characters in the Fox episode "Dream Scenari-Moe": restaurateur Mr. Fong and newspaper editor Harry Metsali.

Bauza died Sunday of hypertensive cardiovascular disease. His passing stunned the animation community, including the "Simpsons" writers who had just recorded him.

What did Bauza bring to the episode?

Co-executive producer Cesar Mazariegos, who co-showruns the episode, shared the casting details with Variety. He said Bauza recorded in two sessions.

"Everything people have said about Eric, before and after his untimely passing, is absolutely true," Mazariegos told Variety. "He was so funny, kind, creative and just immensely talented. We reached out to him to play two New-Yorky characters for our 'Dream Scenari-Moe' episode, and he knocked it out of the park."

Mazariegos described Bauza switching among dozens of voices, both to give producers options and to riff off-mic. Bauza signed the show's Wall-of-Fame and drew a Bugs Bunny on it — which, Mazariegos said, is how the writers learned Bauza had started as an animator.

"He was such a longtime fan of animation and kept saying that he felt like the luckiest guy in the world," Mazariegos said.

The producer said he had bumped into Bauza at the Creative Arts Emmys last month, and executive producer Matt Selman saw him at another event just last week. "He was absolutely someone we were excited to have come in again and again, and then we heard the news. It was such a shock," Mazariegos said. He called the loss devastating "to his young family, to a generation of animation fans, to an industry that's being hobbled by greed and AI."

How large was Bauza's body of work?

Bauza voiced nearly the entire Warner Bros. catalog. In this year's "Coyote vs. Acme" alone, he performed Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety, Elmer Fudd, Foghorn Leghorn, Porky Pig, Road Runner and Charlie the Dog.

His more than 400 acting credits span "Avatar: The Last Airbender," "Chowder," "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated," "Fanboy & Chum Chum" and "Ben 10 Omniverse." His 2026 output alone includes "Chibiverse," "Minions & Monsters," "Forgotten Island," "Rick and Morty," "Superkitties" and "Avatar: Seven Havens."

One show had eluded him until now: "The Simpsons."

Who else appears in the episode?

"Dream Scenari-Moe" also features Meg Ryan as Sam and "Saturday Night Live" cast member James Austin Johnson as Dr. De La Manana. The logline: "When Moe has trouble sleeping, he enlists in a brand new sleep study that gives him the greatest romantic comedy dreams of his life. But unbeknownst to him, his beautiful fantasy comes at a nightmarish price."

How did colleagues remember him?

Sunil Malhotra, newly cast as the voice of Apu on "The Simpsons," posted an Instagram tribute that included the congratulatory message Bauza sent him when the casting was announced.

Malhotra wrote that he first met Bauza in 2017 on a panel for animation students at LMU. "He was already a legend, and I was in awe of him," Malhotra wrote. "But the thing about Eric was, in addition to his enormous talent, he had boundless generosity and grace. He made me feel like a peer."

Malhotra added: "As much as we all will miss him, his talent, his laugh, his warmth, I can only imagine the loss his family must be feeling. The world is an unfair place. But it was a little brighter, better and funnier when Eric was here."

The Nov. 15 broadcast now doubles as a memorial — the last new performance from a voice actor whose final message to a colleague arrived just days before his death.