Don Lafontaine in hospital! RIP

RIP Don LaFontaine

RIP Don LaFontaine

'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.

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



...in a world with no Don LaFontaine, movie trailers will be bland and boring.
 
I almost worked with the man once. Until we found out his session fee was 10 grand. We didn't even bother asking what usage was. :) May we all be so successful in our chosen endeavors.
 
For some reason this one bothers me more then most celebs passing... that guy is/was an icon.

I know a dude that got him to do a VO for his freakin' website... I wish I had tried to get something from him as well... and I think he did it for next to nothing... seriously... I think it was $200.

I'm just sayin'... I don't think DL was all about the money... like anyone else, he got what he could, when he could... but I still think he was a cool guy that cared about regular people.

As a sound guy... I gotta' say... he will be missed.
 
A friend of mine at NBC worked with him a few times. He did about 5 minutes of work over the phone and got an ungodly sum for his efforts. I bet even God will be impressed by his voice. RIP.
 
Don LaFontaine was originally from my town here of Duluth, Minnesota, so of course his passing made big news on TV and the local paper here. Very sad. He and his brother used to pull lots of funny antics here in Duluth in the 60s and 70s I guess, faking fights, etc. to freak people out.
 
A few other notables from my town of Duluth Minnesota-- William Petersen (Grisham of CSI Las Vegas) has family here, he comes to our shabby northern MN town here now and then; Bob Dylan (his childhood home is just a few blocks from my house); Gena Lee Nolin (babe!) of Baywatch fame. Arnold (the Terminator!) has a vacation home just up the shore from here, and Telly Savalas had a home here on the beach.
:)

Sweet!:beer:
 
A few other notables from my town of Duluth Minnesota-- William Petersen (Grisham of CSI Las Vegas) has family here, he comes to our shabby northern MN town here now and then; Bob Dylan (his childhood home is just a few blocks from my house); Gena Lee Nolin (babe!) of Baywatch fame. Arnold (the Terminator!) has a vacation home just up the shore from here, and Telly Savalas had a home here on the beach.
:)

And don't forget my wife once filmed a hospital commercial up there. (She was living in the Twin Cities at the time.)
 
Twin Cities rocks. If you ever watch "With Honors" (Joe Pesci, Brendan Fraser, Moira Kelly, etc), great flick, it takes place on Harvard campus, except is much of it was filmed at the U of Minnesota campus right in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis). Beautiful campus (or at least it used to be until the ruined it with major remodeling and building) that has been used in a number of films as a fake other campus like Harvard. I attended there (U of MN, not Harvard!) for 5 years. "Untamed Heart" with Christian Slater and Marissa Tomei also filmed in Mnpls, I love that film.

And don't forget my wife once filmed a hospital commercial up there. (She was living in the Twin Cities at the time.)
 
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