"In A World" Voiceover Guy Dies...

[ChefChiTown]

(CNN) -- Don LaFontaine, the voiceover king whose "In a world ..." phrase on movie trailers was much copied -- and much parodied -- has died, according to media reports. He was 68.

LaFontaine died Monday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, according to ETOnline, "Entertainment Tonight's" Web site. He died from complications from pneumothorax, a collapsed lung that causes air to build in the pleural cavity, his agent, Vanessa Gilbert, told "ET."

LaFontaine, who was born in Duluth, Minnesota, began as a voice actor in the mid-1960s while working as a recording engineer, according to his Web site. His strong, slightly gravelly voice was featured on trailers for thousands of films, including "The Godfather," "Fatal Attraction" and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." For a time in the late '70s, LaFontaine was the official voice of Paramount Pictures.

His favorite work was one he did for the 1980 film "The Elephant Man," he said in interviews, but whether the film was Oscar-caliber or a bomb waiting to blow, he handled every assignment equally.

"My philosophy is that you have to really believe what you're reading, even if you think the film's a piece of junk," he told Swindle magazine. "Even the worst picture is someone's favorite film, and that someone is the fan I am always talking to." iReport: Share your thoughts on "the Voiceover King"

He also provided the voice for hundreds of thousands of commercials, for companies including General Motors, Ford, McDonald's, Coca-Cola and many others, according to his Web site.

The good-humored LaFontaine was willing to poke fun at himself, particularly in a recent ad for Geico insurance, in which he gave dramatic flair to a woman's story about her car accident. He also voiced the trailer for "The Simpsons Movie," in which his descriptions were mimicked by commentary from the film's characters.

But LaFontaine was most famous for his phrase "In a world ...," used by seemingly dozens of movies determined to create an otherworldly atmosphere.

LaFontaine told CNN that the scripts gave him the cues for his delivery.

"They dictate how they want to be read," he told "Showbiz Tonight" in 2005. "It's pretty much straightforward stuff because you know the context of the film generally going in. If it's something like 'King Kong,' you have a pretty good idea of how you`re going to say it. It's going to be a big adventure thing. And I let the [script] more or less guide what I'm going to say."

He added that there was no secret to his movie trailer work: "I really think this is one of the few industries where everything is right up there," he told CNN. "What you see is what you get."

Still, he noted, it's not like he could use his movie-trailer voice everywhere.

"If I tried to use that voice in public," he said, "they'd be calling security."

LaFontaine is survived by his wife, actress and singer Nita Whitaker, and three children, Christine, Skye and Elyse.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/09/02/obit.lafontaine/index.html

Movie trailers will never be the same again.

 

[stickyfingerz]

Aww damn. I might have to do a Dixie trailer similar to his style in him memory.

 

[DOA82]

Aww damn. I might have to do a Dixie trailer similar to his style in him memory.

Do any of your posts ever not mention Dixie Dash, seriously, even on a thread about a great voice over actor passing, you find some way to mention her. You work for her, we get it.

On topic, i loved Pablo fransiscos "little tortilla boy" anyone else seen that? The man has a voice possibly more recogniseable than even likes of James Earl Jones, such a shame.

(Did anyone see the clip where they had him and 3 other voice actors in a limo to the oscars? I only remember the guy from disney being there, imagine that conversation!)

 

[ChefChiTown]

(Did anyone see the clip where they had him and 3 other voice actors in a limo to the oscars? I only remember the guy from disney being there, imagine that conversation!)

I bet the baritone levels were off the chart.

 

[stickyfingerz]

Do any of your posts ever not mention Dixie Dash, seriously, even on a thread about a great voice over actor passing, you find some way to mention her. You work for her, we get it.

On topic, i loved Pablo fransiscos "little tortilla boy" anyone else seen that? The man has a voice possibly more recogniseable than even likes of James Earl Jones, such a shame.

(Did anyone see the clip where they had him and 3 other voice actors in a limo to the oscars? I only remember the guy from disney being there, imagine that conversation!)

Sorry but since I already had it in mind to make one similar to that, it was the first thing that popped into my head. Btw she works with me, I don't work for her. I own the program she is part of it. I could mention Nerdy Nora and Daisymarie18 too I guess.

 

[Dixie Dash]

Do any of your posts ever not mention Dixie Dash, seriously, even on a thread about a great voice over actor passing, you find some way to mention her. You work for her, we get it.

On topic, i loved Pablo fransiscos "little tortilla boy" anyone else seen that? The man has a voice possibly more recogniseable than even likes of James Earl Jones, such a shame.

(Did anyone see the clip where they had him and 3 other voice actors in a limo to the oscars? I only remember the guy from disney being there, imagine that conversation!)

He's my manager and we were talking about doing something in that guys memory...

 

[calpoon]

No offense mate, but unless people are paying to see you in a G-string, then you work for her.

 

[Dixie Dash]

No I work for him. Let's keep this thread about what it was originally.

 

[DOA82]

Dixie Dash[/URL][/B], post: 2472928, member: 196500"]No I work for him. Let's keep this thread about what it was originally.

To late. Ive forgotten already.

 

[villiageidiot]

To late. Ive forgotten already.

I thought someone died, but all I can think about is Dixie Dash squirting!

 

[hedonis]

I was devastated. I recently had Don do a voiceover for a comedy compilation flick that we're doing in the winter here. He just cut it for us in July, so this is a horribly sad thing for me, personally, and for the other guys n gals working on this movie.

Shame is, it's kind of a private family/friends movie once we get it done. Still, I'll be happy to get the trailer he voiced for us posted, if anyone would like to hear it.

Damn... rest in peace, Don. You were a kick ass guy with a great talent.

H

 

[tunsty]

" In a world where voice-over artists thought they could go on forever, one man dared to buck the trend, here is his stor.....uuuugghhhhhhh"

 

[villiageidiot]

" In a world where voice-over artists thought they could go on forever, one man dared to buck the trend, here is his stor.....uuuugghhhhhhh"

:jump: Too Fuckin Funny! :jump:

 

[hedonis]

Strangely, I think even Don would have found that funny.

 

[Psychology]

Anyone know what his last trailer voice-over was? I'd lol if it was a movie about Armageddon.

 

[hedonis]

Anyone know what his last trailer voice-over was? I'd lol if it was a movie about Armageddon.

I don't know- he did so many per day, with his own studio right in his home, that I think it'll be difficult to say what the last one was.

The one he cut for me was in July. I imagine he did about several hundred more, counting trailers, ads, and other bits.

H

 

[Sicario]

RIP Don LaFontaine.

He had one of those dream jobs where all you need was a Unique voice and delivery.

 

[Legzman]

Now theres a job I'd LOVE to have. I hear they have an opening!!!:nanner:

 

[D-rock]

He along with James Earl Jones are the people I have wished I could get to do an answering message recording for me.

 

[stickyfingerz]

He along with James Earl Jones are the people I have wished I could get to do an answering message recording for me.

Interesting you say that, I watched an interview with Don on youtube where he mentions doing those for free for people when he had time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QPMvj_xejg here is the vid.