William Dufris (1958-2020) *62

was an American voice actor.

It was in London where Dufris began his audio career (radio plays, audiobooks, film/animation dubbing, language tapes). During this time, he worked a number of BBC Radio plays with Kathleen Turner, Sharon Gless, Stockard Channing, and Helena Bonham-Carter. Moreover, he worked with director Dirk Maggs (of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy fame) 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. He was best known as the original voice of Bob the Builder in the popular children’s show Bob The Builder for the US and Canada from Seasons one through nine. He left because Sarah Ball, the show's co-creator and one of the writers, directors, and producers, was moving on. Dufris also voiced Rocky's best friend Elvis and Dougan the red walrus in the children's 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 III films.

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.

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