Looney Tunes Voice Actor Joe Alaskey Died At 63 Because Of Cancer

The Los Angeles times reported on Thursday that Joe Alaskey, the 63-year-old voice actor behind famous Looney Tunes characters Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, died on Wednesday in Green Island, New York. According to Trish Alaskey, Joe's former assistant and niece, he died because of cancer.

Following the death of the legendary Mel Blanc, who played the voices of the animated and talking animals, in 1989, Joe Alaskey succeeded him in the more recent Looney Toons episodes. He was a colleague of Blanc's, and he earned a prominent place in the world of impersonations and voice over because of his hard work and talent.

Alaskey started to do impersonations when he was five years old. He never underwent proper schooling as he was a self-taught impersonator. He started his career by participating in radio gigs until such time that his talent brought him to Hollywood. Aside from Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, Joe also voiced Sylvester the Cat, Tweety Bird, Plucky Duck and Rugrats' Grandpa Lou Prickles.

Joe also performed voice-over roles in TV movies like Jackie Gleason in the "King of the World" and Richard Nixon's voice in "Forrest Gump."

"He loved the characters - he loved Mel - and it was very important to him that they came off the right way," said his niece.

CNN reported on Thursday that several fans expressed their condolences to Joe on social media sites.

"The voice of Bugs Bunny and Daffy. This guy entertained us for a long time. U won't be forgotten Joe Alaskey. Your voices were amazing," wrote Adam APO Powell on Twitter Thursday.

A television writer and Joe's friend, Mark Evanier, wrote on his blog that his most favorite part is when Joe sounded like Joe Alaskey.

"He had a long, long list of voices but that's the one I will miss the most," wrote Evanier.