Don LaFontaine, whose voice we all know from most of Hollywood’s movie
trailers, died Monday at the age of 68, his agent Vanessa Gilbert reported.
The man who was famous for his voice rather than his name
died at Cedars Sinai
Medical Center
in Los Angeles,
following complications from a collapsed lung. The official cause of death
hasn’t yet been released.
One of the few times that he appeared in front of the camera
was in a recent Geico insurance commercial in which he parodied himself,
describing himself as “that announcer guy” and uttering his most famous “in a
world” phrase.
He did a similar thing on “The Early Show” a few years ago,
when he introduced a Dave Price weather segment.
LaFontaine used to do most of his work from his home studio
in Los Angeles,
or rushing from one studio to another, making millions with his job. He
recorded about 5,000 movie trailers and hundreds of thousands of commercials
and presentations, including ads for Chevrolet, Pontiac, Ford, Budweiser,
McDonalds, and Coke.
He was also a voice of “Entertainment Tonight” and “The
Insider,” as well as CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, TNT, TBS and the Cartoon Network.
He had once claimed he can voice almost 80 spots in a day.
He is survived by his wife, singer/actress Nita Whitaker,
and three children Christine, Skye and Elyse.
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