In a world without Don LaFontaine…
Don LaFontaine died yesterday.
You may not know LaFontaine’s name, but you’d probably know his voice: he’s the best-known and most-copied (and most-parodied) voiceover artist in Hollywood, the guy who basically pioneered the phrase “IN A WORLD….” Sound familiar?
LaFontaine’s career began accidentally—he filled in for an absent voice actor on the promo he was producing—but it made a significant impact on the world of voiceover, especially movie-trailer narration. Most of the trailers released today are either voiced by LaFontaine himself or by somebody who sounds just like him. (Incidentally, haven’t you ever wondered how many trailer-narration guys there are in Hollywood, since they all sound approximately the same? Check out LaFontaine’s Wikipedia entry.) During his career, he voiced 60 promotions a week, traveled by limo to avoid parking at each jobs, and eventually gave up altogether on leaving the house—he recorded in his home studio and either e-mailed his work to the studios or literally phoned it in via high-resolution ISDN lines. A long list of comedians have impersonated and parodied LaFontaine’s work, but in this case, imitation probably really is the sincerest form of flattery—he’s just that well-known, or at least his voice is.
In 2005, LaFontaine appeared on the NPR quiz show show Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, on which the winner gets an outgoing answering-machine message recorded by the show’s announcer, Carl Kassel. LaFontaine didn’t win, but apparently figured he could record his own fancy-pants message. Just another day in the life of a voiceover guru.
The movie-going world will surely miss LaFontaine, but at least we he’s passed his rumbly-voiced legacy on to others, so we don’t have to endure…well, you know.
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