Don LaFontaine facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Don LaFontaine
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LaFontaine in 2007
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| Born |
Donald Leroy LaFontaine
August 26, 1940 Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.
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| Died | September 1, 2008 (aged 68) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
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| Resting place | Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Los Angeles |
| Other names | Thunder Throat The Voice of God The King of Movie Trailers |
| Occupation | Voice actor |
| Years active | 1962–2008 |
| Spouse(s) | Nita Whitaker |
| Children | 3 |
Donald Leroy LaFontaine (born August 26, 1940 – died September 1, 2008) was a famous American voice actor. He was known for his deep, powerful voice. Many people called him "Thunder Throat" or "The Voice of God." He was also known as "The King of Movie Trailers."
Don LaFontaine recorded thousands of movie trailers. He also voiced many TV ads and video game previews. His most famous line was "In a world..." This phrase became very popular. Later in his career, he became even more famous. He appeared in commercials for GEICO insurance and the Mega Millions lottery.
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Early Life and Voice
Don LaFontaine was born in Duluth, Minnesota, on August 26, 1940. His parents were Alfred and Ruby LaFontaine. Don said his voice changed when he was 13 years old. It became very deep, which later made him famous.
After high school in 1958, he joined the United States Army. He worked as an audio engineer. He helped with the U.S. Army Band and Chorus.
Starting His Career
After leaving the Army, Don continued working as a recording engineer. In 1962, he worked on radio ads for the movie Dr. Strangelove. He had many good ideas for the ads.
In 1963, he started a business with a producer named Floyd Peterson. They made ads just for movies. Don said their company created many famous movie trailer phrases. This included his own special line, "in a world..."
Becoming a Voice Actor
In 1964, Don was working on a western movie called Gunfighters of Casa Grande. The voice actor they needed wasn't available. So, Don had to step in and record the voice-over himself.
The movie studio, MGM, loved his voice. After that, Don LaFontaine began his career as a voice-over artist.
The King of Movie Trailers
Don LaFontaine became the head of a company called Kaleidoscope Films Ltd. This company made movie trailers. Later, in 1976, he started his own company. It was called Don LaFontaine Associates.
Soon, Paramount hired him to do their trailers. He was even promoted to vice president. But Don wanted to go back to voice acting. So, he left Paramount and moved to Los Angeles in 1981.
An agent helped him get more voice-over jobs. From then on, he worked only as a voice actor. At his busiest, he voiced about 60 ads each week. Sometimes, he did 35 in a single day! Studios paid him a lot for his unique voice. He earned millions of dollars.
Working from Home
Don often had to go to many different studios each day. But then, new technology called ISDN came out. This allowed him to build a recording studio at his home in Hollywood Hills. He could then do all his work from there.
Don LaFontaine's voice was in thousands of movie trailers. He worked for all the major film studios. For a while, he was almost the only person doing movie trailer voice-overs. Some famous trailers he voiced include Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Shrek, and Batman Returns.
He once said his favorite movie trailer voice-over was for The Elephant Man.
Other Voice Work
Don also did voice work for other things. He announced for some WWE events. He narrated TV shows like Team Knight Rider and America's Most Wanted.
He was also a guest narrator for clues on the game show Jeopardy!. He even appeared on a radio show called Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!. He offered to record answering machine messages for fans. But he later had too many requests to keep doing it.
In 2006, Don LaFontaine appeared in a GEICO commercial. He was called "that announcer guy from the movies." He started the ad with his famous line, "In a world..." This commercial made him known to even more people. He said it changed his life.
Health and Passing
On August 22, 2008, Don LaFontaine was admitted to a hospital in Los Angeles. He had a serious lung problem. He passed away on September 1, 2008, at age 68. This was just ten days after he went to the hospital. He is buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
His last TV voice-over was for an episode of Phineas and Ferb. In it, he said, "In a world... There, I said it. Happy?" The episode ended with a tribute to him. His last movie trailer voice-over was for a documentary called Call + Response.
His Legacy
After Don LaFontaine passed away, many shows honored him. America's Most Wanted, which he had narrated since 1988, showed a tribute. The TV show Chowder also dedicated an episode to him.
His work was also referenced in the film In a World.... This movie was about voice actors.
After Don's death, voice-overs in movie trailers became less common. Now, most trailers use music, sound effects, and dialogue from the movie itself.
Images for kids
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Don LaFontaine, the famous voice actor
See also
- Ben Patrick Johnson
- Hal Douglas
- Mark Elliott
- Nick Tate
- Percy Rodriguez
- Redd Pepper
