William Dufris

William Dufris
Personal Information
Also Known As	Bill Dufris William Dufries Bill Dufries
Date of Birth	Februrary 1, 1958
Place of Birth	Houlton, Maine, U.S.
Date of Death	March 24, 2020 (aged 62)
Place of Death	South Portland, Maine, U.S.
Cause of Death	Cancer
Nationality	American
Occupation	Voice Actor Audiobook Narrator
Professional Information
Areas Active	London Los Angeles
Years Active	1978-2020
Status	Deceased

William Dufris (February 1, 1958 – March 24, 2020) was an American voice actor and audiobook narrator.

Career

Dufris began his audio career in London, where he appeared in several BBC Radio plays with Kathleen Turner, Sharon Gless, Stockard Channing, and Helena Bonham-Carter. Moreover, he worked with director Dirk Maggs on his audio drama productions of Spider-Man (where he voiced the title role of Peter Parker), Judge Dredd, Voyage and An American Werewolf in London.

These experiences led Dufris to co-found the audio production company The Story Circle, Ltd in the UK. Upon returning to the United States, Dufris founded Mind's Eye Productions and co-founded Rocky Coast Radio Theatre and The AudioComics Company, for which he has been producer, director, actor, and engineer. For AudioComics he directed Starstruck, the first season of Horrorscopes, Titanium Rain, Honey West, and The Batson's for the AudioComics Kids line. He also directed Arigon Starr’s audio comedy Super Indian for Native Voices at the Autry in Los Angeles.

He was best known for voicing the title character in the American English dub of the British children's animated series Bob the Builder until its ninth season. Dufris also voiced Elvis and Dougan in the stop motion TV series Rocky and the Dodos for Cosgrove Hall and dubbed several anime films such as X, Appleseed and two of the Lupin the 3rd films.

Dufris was on the Advisory Board of the National Audio Theatre Festivals, Inc. in addition to being a Norman Corwin Award Committee member. He was a guest instructor and performer at the 2005–2007 Audio Theatre Workshops, appearing in the world premiere works The Best Place to Grow Pumpkins, Rewind, Extra-Ordinary, and Histories.

In 2018, Dufris and Jack Bowman co-founded the audiobook company Dagaz Media.

Dufris died of cancer on March 24, 2020 at the age of 62.

Filmography

Live-Action Dubbing

Specials

• Bob the Builder: The Live Show! (2002) - Bob

Animation Dubbing

Specials

• Bob the Builder: A Christmas To Remember (2001) - Bob, Farmer Pickles

Animated Series

• Bob the Builder (1998-2012) - Bob (Seasons 1-9), Farmer Pickles (Seasons 1-9), Skip (Seasons 6-9) (US Dub)

Anime Dubbing

OVAs & Specials

• Appleseed (1988) - SWAT (uncredited)
• Ultimate Teacher (1988) - Clerk, Cyclist, Speaker (UK Dub)
• Angel Cop (1989-1994) - Guard, Reporter, Additional Voices
• Lupin the 3rd: Bye, Bye, Lady Liberty (1989) - Wolf III
• New Dominion Tank Police (1993-1994) - Four Eyes, Cop (ep. 1), Cop (ep. 1)

Anime Films

• Lupin the 3rd: The Mystery of Mamo (1978) - Wolf III (Manga UK Dub)
• Space Adventure Cobra (1982) - Cobra (Manga UK Dub)
• Odin (1985) - Crew, SOS
• Patlabor: The Movie (1989) - Kataoka
• Patlabor 2: The Movie (1992) - Sakuma, Yamadera, Classmate, Editor, Fuzzyball, JGSDF, News Anchor, Weathercaster (Manga UK Dub)
• X (1996) - Subaru Sumeragi

External Links

• William Dufris at the Internet Movie Database
• William Dufris at Anime News Network's encyclopedia