Hollywood Loses its ‘Golden Voice’ Voiceover Master Don LaFontaine dies at 68

LOS ANGELES – Hollywood’s most familiar voice was silenced Monday, when Don LaFontaine died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 68-years-old. Representatives say LaFontaine passed away following complications from Pneumothorax, which resulted in a collapsed lung.

Lafontaine’s voiceover career spanned more than two decades. His signature deep voice, a sound that seemed almost aided by hard liquor and cigarettes, was used to record over 5,000 film trailers and even more television commercials, network and video game promotions. His voice also became synonomous with the phrase “In a world…”, which was used in so many movie trailers it became cliché.

Lafontaine boasted several nicknames throughout his career. Names like “Thunder Throat” and even “The Voice of God” not only added to his prestige but also his bank account. Lafontaine was paid handsomely with an income that reportedly ran into the millions. There was no hiding his good fortune either. Lafontaine was usually driven to voiceover jobs in his own personal limousine. On occasion, however, he opted to save on travel time by recording promotions from his estate in the Hollywood Hills.

Lafontaine’s voice wasn’t ‘discovered’ until the 1960’s. He and producer Floyd Peterson ran a two-man operation, creating radio and film commercials. In 1965, a scheduling mix-up prevented an announcer from getting to a recording session, forcing Lafontaine to take the lead. The recording was sent to the client, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, which bought his performance and promptly used him exclusively over the next 16-years to voice thousands of spots and movie trailers. In 1978, Lafontaine joined MGM’s competitor, Paramount Pictures, as head of the trailer department. It wasn’t until the 1980’s, when Lafontaine became an independent producer, that his career took off and his demand became fierce.

Aside from film and commercials, Lafontaine also worked as the voice of television programs Entertainment Tonight and The Insider, as well as for CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox and UPN. His cable work included TNT, TBS and the Cartoon Network. Most recently, Lafontaine parodied himself on a series of national television commercials for Geico. Based on his signed contracts, Lafontaine had the distinction of being perhaps the single busiest actor in Screen Actors Guild history.

When once asked about his favorite movie trailer work, Lafontaine said he particularly liked working on the biographical hit The Elephant Man (1980).

Don Lafontaine leaves behind a wife, singer and actress Nita Whitaker, and three daughters, Christine, Skye and Elyse. – Erin McElveen

Welcome back! You may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Technorati Tags: ABC, CBS, Don LaFontaine, LOS ANGELES, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, NBC, Paramount Pictures, Screen Actors Guild