William Dufris, who most famously voiced Bob the Builder, passes away aged 62 after battle with cancer

William Dufris, who voiced the title character in animated children's series Bob the Builder, has died of cancer at the age of 62.

Pocket Universe Productions, which Dufris co-founded, confirmed the news on Twitter on Tuesday.

We are heartbroken to announce that the co-founder of @pocketplot and the director of “EC Comics Presents... The Vault of Horror”, William Dufris, has died from cancer.

There is a hole in a lot of people’s hearts right now. We will have more to say later.

Bless you, Bill. pic.twitter.com/QHrZ69i6ti

— Pocket Universe Productions (@PocketPlot) March 24, 2020

Born in 1958, Dufris started voice acting in London during his early 20s. According to Deadline, he worked on audiobooks and anguage tapes, and also acted in BBC Radio plays opposite the likes of Helena Bonham-Carter, Kathleen Turner, Sharon Gless, and Stockard Channing. Dufris 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.

RIP BIll Dufris. A Prince. The love and craft he brought to everything he acted in from THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN thru 'Judge Cal' in JUDGE DREDD, to Steve Baxter's VOYAGE in 1999, & our recent collaboration on THE X-FILES. A bright light has gone out in the world. Love ya, Bud. pic.twitter.com/agDKzeldE1 — Dirk Maggs (@DirkMaggs) March 24, 2020

But his biggest role came as Bob the Builder, a part he played for the first nine seasons of the series in the North American version. The show aired on Nick Jr from 2001-04 and PBS Kids from 2005-18.

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, and every time upon getting the assignment, Bob would ask his crew, "Can we build it?" to which they would reply in unison, "Yes we can!," which later became the signature catchphrase of the series.

Dufris also voiced Bob in a number of North American direct-to-video projects.

His other voice credits include the 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, Dufris directed Pocket Universe Productions' EC Comics Presents… The Vault of Horror!, an audio drama adaptation of the 1950s comic books.

With inputs from The Associated Press.

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