The Celebrity Truth

Renowned movie voiceover talent Don LaFontaine, who lent his voice to thousands of movie trailers since the 1960s, has died of complications related to treatment of an ongoing illness.LaFontaine, 68, died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Monday (September 1) said his agent, Vanessa Gilbert.

His 30-year plus career began in the 1960s, when LaFontaine worked as an audio engineer. He produced radio spots for films with producer Floyd Peterson, and when an announcer didn’t show up for a recording session in 1965, LaFontaine voiced his first narration for the film ‘Gunfighters of Casa Grande’.

The client, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, liked his performance, and he went on
to voice more than 5,000 trailers for top studios and television networks.

LaFontaine remained active until recently, working from a home studio his wife nicknamed ‘The Hole’, averaging seven to 10 voiceover sessions a day.

In a 2007 interview, LaFontaine explained the strategy behind the movie phrase he pioneered, “In a world where…”.

“We have to very rapidly establish the world we are transporting them to,” he explained.

“That’s very easily done by saying, `In a world where … violence rules.’ `In a world where … men are slaves and women are the conquerors.’ You very rapidly set the scene.”

He is survived by his wife, singer and actress Nita Whitaker, and three daughters.

Watch a clip of his career and a comical commercial LaFontaine did for Geico insurance.

Photo courtesy of Swindle Mag. Taken by Aaron Farley.

Tags: audio engineer, cedars sinai medical, cedars sinai medical center, don lafontaine, metro goldwyn mayer, movie trailers, recording session, swindle, television networks, three daughters