The Man with the Unmistakable Voice, Don LaFontaine, who voiced movie trailers throughout a remarkable 33-year career, passed away Monday, Sept. 1, at the age of 68.

Don LaFontaine died from complications in the treatment of an illness he was receiving medical attention for at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his family said. No details were released on the nature of his ailment.

He was 68 and had a remarkable career behind him, having been active professionally until very recently. By active professionally we mean that he averaged seven to ten voiceovers in a day, adding to the whopping total of more than 5,000 trailers he added his personal touch to during his career.

Born Aug. 26, 1940, in Duluth, Minn., LaFontaine began his career in the 1960s as a recording engineer at the National Recording Studios. It was there that he worked with radio producer Floyd Peterson, on promo spots for “Dr. Strangelove.”

When one announcer did not show up one day, so the story goes, the solution was to have LaFontaine fill in and history thus changed - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer appreciated LaFontaine’s work on the respective film promo, for “Gunfighters of Casa Grande.”

Other than movie trailers, LaFontaine also worked on numerous promo spots and commercials for various radio stations and television networks.

The phrase “In a world…” became his own and it was only in 2006 that his image and his voice were finally united for the world to see. LaFontaine left anonymity behind him when he appeared in a national car insurance commercial looking relaxed, sounding recognizably melodramatic and parodying himself deliciously. The famous “In a world…” was also present.

Whether in voice-overs for “The Godfather, Part II,” “Fatal Attraction,” “The Terminator” and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” or in TV/radio commercials for Coca-Cola, Budweiser or McDonald’s, as co-announcer of the Academy Awards or as the voice for ABC, CBS, NBC or Cartoon Network, to name just a few of his many projects, Don LaFontaine certainly earned his moniker of “the voice of God.”

Voiceover artist Jim Tasker, in obvious awe, confessed to the Associated Press that LaFontaine was “the originator” of the modern voiceover for movie trailers, “the standard for which all other voiceovers for movie trailers are measured” and the enduring “gauge for all of us in the industry.”

Voiceover artist Tom Kane similarly praised LaFontaine, saying the “15 to 20 guys in the country” who rise to the late voice actor’s caliber are, “to one degree or another…doing their best Don LaFontaine impersonation.”

LaFontaine is survived by his wife Nita Whitaker and three daughters.