'King Of Voiceovers' Don LaFontaine Dies At 68

**DSM4Life** · 09-02-2008, 04:37 PM

'King Of Voiceovers' Don LaFontaine Dies At 68
LOS ANGELES The "King of Voiceovers" died Monday in Los Angeles at age 68.

Don LaFontaine, whose voice was on nearly 5,000 movie trailers, died this afternoon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, his agent, Vanessa Gilbert, told Entertainment Tonight.

He died of complications from a collapsed lung, ET reported, although the official cause of death was not immediately released.

In addition to being the omnipresent voice on movie trailers, he was also an announcer for Entertainment Tonight and The Insider, as well as CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, UPN, TNT, TBS and the Cartoon Network, according to ET.

His voice is believed to have been used in hundreds of thousands of television and radio spots, including commercials for Chevrolet, Pontiac, Ford, Budweiser, McDonalds, Coke and other corporate sponsors, ET reported.

He was also the in-show announcer for the Screen Actors Guild and Academy Awards, and recently parodied himself in a Geico insurance commercial -- one of the few times he could be seen as well as heard.

Based on contracts signed, he may have been the single busiest actor in the history of SAG, according to ET.

LaFontaine is survived by his wife, singer/actress Nita Whitaker, and three children

http://cbs2.com/local/LaFontaine.voi....2.808104.html

You might not know his name but you will know his voice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QPMvj_xejg

**Amorphic** · 09-02-2008, 10:33 PM

RIP, he had a very unique voice

**MuscleScience** · 09-02-2008, 10:38 PM

That guy gave me more goose bumps when he would intro a movie, hell I would get pumped up to watch some of the shittiest movies ever just from hearing his voice....RIP indeed.

**MASTER** · 09-03-2008, 08:30 AM

OMG whos going to say "this summer" "this year" or "coming to a cinema near you" now, trailers just wont be the same now.

**Nicotine** · 09-03-2008, 08:31 AM

they will probally sample his voice....
:\

**RuhlFreak55** · 09-03-2008, 08:38 AM

that guy was awesome

rip

**Overhaulz** · 09-03-2008, 10:37 AM

Originally Posted by MastaAce

OMG whos going to say "this summer" "this year" or "coming to a cinema near you" now, trailers just wont be the same now.

The same new guy that has been doing some the more recent trailers for years. I'm not sure who he is, but I noticed Lafontaine wasn't doing nearly as many as trailers as he used to do. I instantly noticed trailers that were not done by him because they just didn't have the same "cool" vibe about them.