Don LaFontaine dead at 68 (http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/theampersand/archive/2008/09/02/don-lafontaine-the-voice-of-movie-trailers-dies-at-68.aspx)

That's sad. He's one of those people who never got the attention they deserved.

king of the voice overs. he was 68.

In a world full of bland voiceovers,.......only one man could get your heart pumping with a few words. They called him....That Announcer Guy.

Damn, that's bad news. Don was a really nice guy.

Maybe he didn't get the attention from the public, but he got the attention from the producers. I'll bet he did quite well, and deservedly so.

Even in the Geico commercial, they called "That announcer guy from the movies", although they were kind enough to print his real name on screen. This guy was cool, and I'm gonna miss hearing his voice in the theater, during the previews. Ever since I was a kid, the "previews of coming attractions" was my second favorite part of the movie experience. My favorite, if the movie sucked!

In a world of multiple threads on the same subject...

sorry, didnt see the other one. oops!

Too bad. He DID seem like a fun-loving guy. One of my favorite video clips is here.

http://www.donlafontaine.com/DLF2007/Index.html?p=NowPlaying.html&pt=Archives

Five Men in a Limo.

I loved that "just smoked 2 cartons of unfiltered Camels" voice, which always made the coming attraction seem like it would be a better film than it would inevitably turn out to be. Just about every time he'd finish narrating a coming attraction, I hear at least one voice in the theatre say "Oooo, I gotta see THAT one; it looks like it's gonna be GREAT!"
Rest In Peace, Mr. LaFontaine, and thanks for the very best "coming attractions" I've ever enjoyed! :(

As a voice over actor myself at one time, I know the dedication it takes to keep up with all of the demand especially when I was doing celebrity voice-overs and how you need to constantly work your voice just short of straining it to keep it strong and dependable. I worked with Don twice in the booths I did the voice overs for clint eastwood, rodney dangerfield, & ronald reagan for general Motors & Don read the script as an interviewer Interacting with my 3 characters about the 1991-92 G.M. vehicles and why my 3 would purchase a GM vehicle. We always had time for changes that he had no idea i was going to do, in fact, either did I until they popped out One instance during a read through, i did the line for clint eastwood as johnny carson and it came out mixed with marlon brando (godfather) and resulted in wayne newton which i had never done before. Don comes over looking around everywhere & around to my side and says " was THAT you ? I said yep, i guess it was and he added, how long have you done that voice and i said oh, about 5 minutes now, and we both laughed and then Don told me, same thing has happened to him over the years, voices being mixed & changed as fast & often as we do them blend into another "color of paint" and now you have a new color in your pain (voice) pallet YES indeed, Don will be missed but will live on through his many, many years of recorded talent, Rest in Peace DON !!
Bert

Oh, man, this is pretty sad. Yeah, how many folks knew his real name? Not many, I'd wager. He'll definitely be missed, tho I mean no disrespect when I say that he can be replaced. The distinictivness of his voice, however....

BTW, in my Previous Life I worked in radio as a Disc Jockey. We used to get all kinds of "out-take reels" of stuff and Mr. LaFontaine was on several of them. They were hilarious as you'd have these voice actors/announcer guys whom you always heard w/perfect elocution and grammar, never cursing on-screen yet here they were on these out-take reels screwing something up and then saying (insert something like "dag nabbit!" here). It was just so danged funny because you never expected that sort of thing. Or at least, I never did at the time. Funniest were the voice overs by the guy who used to do the Monday Night Football and similar TV ad's.


EDITED: BTW, I'm the one who merged the threads. No biggy, just figured they'd serve the same purpose merged. :)

IN a world where years ago, I tried to break into the voice-over business, I was told that I would never make it because my voice is "too textured."

That didn't seem to hurt Don LaFontaine's career...

I'm gonna miss him.

Don La Fontaine has been a hero of mine for years. Rest well, sir... :cry:

He may not have gotten recognition, but, I bet he was well paid. His voice is very recognizable. He was blessed to have such a great sounding voice.