American voice actor William Dufris, who voiced iconic kids’ character Bob the Builder in the U.S. and Canadian versions of the popular series for its first nine seasons, has died of cancer at age 62. Pocket Universe Productions, which Dufris co-founded, confirmed the news on Twitter.
Dufris was born in Houlton, Maine, but began his voice acting career in London in his 20s with audiobooks, language tapes and acting gigs in star-powered BBC Radio plays. He also gave voice to Peter Parker in director Dirk Maggs’ audio productions of Spider-Man, along with other productions including Judge Dredd and An American Werewolf in London.
Bob the Builder followed the daily routine of the go-to carpenter Bob and his dependable crew of animated building vehicles, including Scoop, Muck, Lofty, and Dizzy, along with human partner Wendy and his cat Pilchard. Each episode would see the team up for a construction project.
Dufris has lent his voice to UK toon series Rocky and the Dodos and the English-dubbed versions of animated features such as Odin, Venus Wars, and a pair of Lupin the Third pictures. Most recently, he directed Pocket Universe Productions’ EC Comics Presents… The Vault of Horror!, an audio drama adaptation of the 1950s comic books.
