Don LaFontaine

Don LaFontaine
Don LaFontaine

LaFontaine signing books in 2007
Born Donald Leroy LaFontaine
August 26, 1940(1940-08-26)
Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.
Died September 1, 2008(2008-09-01) (aged 68)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death Pneumothorax
Nationality American
Occupation Voice actor
Years active 1962–2008
Spouse Joan Studva (1967–1988)
Nita Whitaker (1989–2008)
Children Christine LaFontaine (age 40)
Skye LaFontaine (age 20)
Elyse LaFontaine (age 16)
Website
http://www.donlafontaine.com/

Donald Leroy "Don" LaFontaine[1] (August 26, 1940 – September 1, 2008) was an American voiceover artist famous for recording more than 5,000 film trailers and hundreds of thousands of television advertisements, network promotions, and video game trailers. His nicknames included "Thunder Throat" and "The Voice of God".[2] He became identified with the phrase "In a world…", which has been used in movie trailers so frequently that it has become a cliché. He parodied his career several times, most recently in commercials for GEICO insurance and the Mega Millions lottery game.

Contents

Early life

LaFontaine was born August 26, 1940, in Duluth, Minnesota, to Alfred and Ruby LaFontaine.[3] According to LaFontaine himself, his voice cracked at the age of 13 in the middle of a sentence, giving him the bass tones that would later bring him much fame and success.[4] After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the United States Army, and worked as a recording engineer for the Army Band and Chorus.

Career

LaFontaine continued to work as a recording engineer after discharge and began working at the National Recording Studios in New York City, where, in 1962, he had the opportunity to work with producer Floyd Peterson on radio spots for Dr. Strangelove. Peterson incorporated many of LaFontaine’s ideas for the spots and, in 1963, they went into business together producing advertising exclusively for the movie industry. LaFontaine claimed that it was this company that first came up with many of the famous movie trailer catch phrases, including his own future signature phrase, "in a world..."[5]

While working on the 1964 western Gunfighters of Casa Grande, LaFontaine had to fill in for an unavailable voice actor in order to have something to present to MGM. After MGM bought the spots, LaFontaine began a career as a voiceover artist.

He became the head of Kaleidoscope Films Ltd., a major movie trailer producer before starting his own company, Don LaFontaine Associates, in 1976. Shortly thereafter, he was hired by Paramount to do their trailers, and was eventually promoted to a vice president. However, he decided to get back into trailer work and left Paramount, moving to Los Angeles in 1981. LaFontaine was contacted by an agent who wanted to promote him for voiceover work. Thereafter, LaFontaine worked in voiceovers. At his peak, he voiced about 60 promotions a week, and sometimes as many as 35 in a single day. Once he established himself, most studios were willing to pay a high fee for his service. His income was reportedly in the millions.[6]

LaFontaine often had jobs at a number of different studios each day, and famously hired a driver to take him from studio to studio in order to save time finding parking. With the advent of ISDN technology, LaFontaine built a recording studio in his Hollywood Hills home and began doing his work from home.

LaFontaine lent his very distinctive voice to thousands of movie trailers during his career, spanning every genre from every major film studio, including The Cannon Group, for which he voiced one of their logos. For a time, LaFontaine had a near-monopoly on movie trailer voiceovers. Some notable trailers which LaFontaine highlighted in the intro on his official website include: Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Shrek, Friday the 13th, Law & Order and Batman Returns. LaFontaine stated in 2007 that his favorite work in a movie trailer was for the hit biographical film The Elephant Man,[7] though according to a response to the question on his website, he had several trailers which stood out in his mind, and he didn't like to choose one.[8]

Lafontaine also did announcing for a few WWE Pay Per View events, as well as the "Don't Try This at Home" bumper.

In a 2007 interview, LaFontaine explained the strategy behind his signature catch phrase, "in a world where...":

We have to very rapidly establish the world we are transporting them to. That's very easily done by saying, "In a world where... violence rules." "In a world where... men are slaves and women are the conquerors." You very rapidly set the scene.[9]

LaFontaine also did other voice work, including as the announcer for the newscasts on WCBS-TV New York, from 2000 to 2001. LaFontaine was a recurring guest narrator for clues on the game show Jeopardy![10] and appeared on NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! on May 14, 2005, where he played "Not My Job" (a game in which famous people have to accurately answer questions totally unrelated to their chosen professions). The prize (for a listener, not the contestant) is "Carl Kassell's voice on your home answering machine". LaFontaine did not win the game, and offered to record the listener's answering machine message himself. LaFontaine once claimed that he enjoyed recording messages like these because it allowed him to be creative in writing unique messages, and said that he would do so for anyone who contacted him if he had the time. However, by 2007, he found the requests to be too numerous for him to take on, and stopped providing the service.[8]

In 2006, GEICO began airing an ad campaign in which actual customers told their own stories of GEICO experiences, accompanied by a celebrity who helped them make the story interesting. LaFontaine was featured as the celebrity in one of these ads which began airing in August 2006. In the commercial, he was introduced as "that announcer guy from the movies", with his name printed on-screen to identify him. He began his telling of the customer's story with his trademark "In a world...". LaFontaine credited the spot as life-changing for having exposed his name and face to a significant audience, noting, "There goes any anonymity I might have had..."[11]

Death

On Friday, August 22, 2008, LaFontaine was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California with a pulmonary embolism and was reported to be in critical condition the following Tuesday. His family made a public appeal for prayers on the Mediabistro.com site.[12] Ten days later, LaFontaine died on September 1, 2008, six days after his 68th birthday, following complications from a pneumothorax.[13] He is buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. His final television voice over role was for the Phineas and Ferb episode "The Chronicles of Meap" in which he parodied himself. The episode also ended with a short tribute to him.[14] His final movie trailer voice-over was for Call + Response, a documentary about global slave trade, for which he donated his talent.[15]

Dedications

On September 6, 2008, America's Most Wanted showed a visual with a picture of him with words below that said "In Memoriam: Don LaFontaine August 26, 1940 - September 1, 2008." John Walsh had announced, prior to the dedication sign, that LaFontaine—who had been the show's announcer since 1988—had died at the age of 68.

On the evening of September 7, 2008, Adult Swim had a bumper that said: Don LaFontaine [1940-2008].

At the end of the credit sequence in the Phineas and Ferb episode "Chronicles of Meap" there is a message on screen saying "In Memoriam... Don LaFontaine 08/26/40 - 09/01/08. One man, in a land, in a time, in a world... All his own." The credit sequence had been designed as a trailer for the "next" Meap episode, or as LaFontaine put it, "Episode 40 -- Meapless in Seattle". As the Disney Channel Original vanity card appears, you hear him say, "In a world...there, I said it. Happy?"

"The Apprentice Scout", an episode of Chowder, is dedicated to LaFontaine. The episode dedicated his memory and said "To Don LaFontaine 1940-2008"

Fellow voiceover artist and friend John Leader retired from the voiceover business on Sept 1, 2008 upon learning of LaFontaine's death.

Satire and other appearances

His voice has been the subject of homage and parody, as seen in a Cartoon Network commercial for The Powerpuff Girls, and the stand-up comedy of Pablo Francisco. Comedian-actress Janeane Garofalo formerly performed "an impression of every movie trailer ever made" with the words, "In a WORLD!…" saying that every movie trailer seems to begin with LaFontaine saying, "In a world…" or "In a city…"

One trailer for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy not only spoofs the "In a World Where" theme, but also includes LaFontaine parodying himself when the narrator defines what a trailer is, saying "Trailers also normally employ (enter Don's voice) 'A deep voice, that sounds like a seven-foot-tall man, who has been smoking cigarettes since childhood'.”[16] The trailer is voiced by fellow voiceover artist Stephen Fry.

LaFontaine's voice was used in Family Guy episodes "North by North Quahog", and "Brian Sings and Swings", and The Untold Story version of "Stewie B. Goode", and has been featured in musical tracks.

On April 12, 2007, LaFontaine appeared on an episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno with ousted American Idol finalist Haley Scarnato to provide humorous "movie trailer"-esque commentary, as a spoof of his Geico commercial..

Selected filmography

References

  1. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0480963/bio
  2. ^ Ryder, Caroline. "Don LaFontaine". Swindle Magazine. http://swindlemagazine.com/issueicons/don-lafontaine/. Retrieved 2008-09-04. 
  3. ^ Greder, Andy (2008-09-02). "Duluth's "King of Voiceovers" dies". Duluth News Tribune. http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=73170&section=News. Retrieved 2008-09-04. [dead link]
  4. ^ "Don LaFontaine: The Voice". http://youtube.com/watch?v=7QPMvj_xejg. Retrieved 2009-01-14. 
  5. ^ "Biography". Don LaFontaine's official site. http://www.donlafontaine.com/DLF2007/Index.html?p=Bio.html. Retrieved 2008-09-03. [dead link]
  6. ^ "Ask the Answer Bitch". E!online. April 2, 2005. Archived from the original on 2006-10-10. http://web.archive.org/web/20061010180227/http://www.eonline.com/Gossip/Answer/index.jsp?id=45&num=2. 
  7. ^ Arrillaga, Pauline (April 2, 2007). "About Don LaFontaine". Houston Chronicle. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/entertainment/4675595.html. 
  8. ^ a b "Ask Don". Don LaFontaine's official site. http://www.donlafontaine.com/DLF2007/Index.html?p=AskDon.html. Retrieved 2008-09-03. [dead link]
  9. ^ Dillon, Raquel Maria (2008-09-02). "Don LaFontaine, voice of movie trailers, dies". Entertainment News (The Associated Press State & Local Wire). 
  10. ^ "J! Archive - Clues narrated by Don LaFontaine". http://www.j-archive.com/search.php?search=LaFontaine. Retrieved 2009-01-14. 
  11. ^ "Archives". Don LaFontaine's official site. http://www.donlafontaine.com/DLF2007/Index.html?p=NowPlaying.html&pt=Archives. Retrieved 2009-01-14. [dead link]
  12. ^ "VO Legend Don LaFontaine in Critical Condition". Fishbowl LA. Mediabistro.com. August 26, 2008. http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlLA/show_business/vo_legend_don_lafontaine_in_critical_condition_92698.asp. Retrieved 2008-08-26. 
  13. ^ "Don LaFontaine Dies At 68". ETonline.com. 2008-09-01. http://www.etonline.com/news/2008/09/64990/index.html. Retrieved 2009-01-14. [dead link]
  14. ^ Phineas and Ferb episode "The Chronicles of Meap" (2009)
  15. ^ "Call + Response Trailer". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6vTbtKjTU0&feature=channel. Retrieved 2009-05-31. 
  16. ^ "Trailer for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". http://www.apple.com/trailers/touchstone/hitchhikersguidetothegalaxy/trailer_3/. Retrieved 2009-01-14. 

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