Career
He reprised his role as the voice of Admiral Ackbar in Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015. Bauersfeld is a resident of Berkeley, California. Bauersfeld served as the Director of KPFA"s drama and literature department for thirty-one years.
Outside of radio, he has dabbled in voice-over work in films and video games.
Bauersfeld was working at Lucasfilm on a radio project with sound designer Randy Thom, when he was approached by Star Wars sound designer Ben Burtt. Burtt asked him to read for the part of Ackbar.
According to Bauersfeld, he was shown a picture of Ackbar and instantly came up with the character"s voice. Ackbar"s lines only took an hour for Bauersfeld to record.
He then spent an additional 30 minutes reading for the voice of Bib Fortuna, who was Jabba the Hutt"s majordomo.
He was also the last person to read for the part of Yoda, a role that eventually went to puppeteer Frank Ounces