Don Lafontaine Biography | Don Lafontaine IMDb | Don Lafontaine Wiki

Donald LaFontaine (Full name: Donald Leroy LaFontaine) was born on August 26. 1940 and died on September 1. 2008. Donald was an American voice actor who recorded more than 5,000 film trailers and hundreds of thousands of television advertisements, network promotions, and video game trailers.

He became identified with the phrase “In a world…”, used in so many movie trailers that it became a cliché. Widely known in the film industry, the man whose nicknames included “Thunder Throat” and “The Voice of God”, became known to a wider audience through commercials for GEICO insurance and the Mega Millions lottery game.

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 this company first came up with many of the famous movie trailer catchphrases, including his own future signature phrase, “in a world…”

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 movie trailer production company, 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 vice president.

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, and from then on 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.

LaFontaine often had jobs at a number of different studios each day. With the advent of ISDN technology, LaFontaine eventually built a recording studio in his Hollywood Hills home and began doing his work from home.

LaFontaine lent his 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 biographical film The Elephant Man, though according to a response to the question on his website, he had several trailers that stood out in his mind, and he didn’t like to choose one.

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 catchphrase, “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…” You very rapidly set the scene.

LaFontaine also did other voice work, including as the announcer for the newscasts on WCBS-TV New York, from 2000 to 2001. He was a recurring guest narrator for clues on the game show Jeopardy!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 Kasell’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. By 2007, he found the requests to be too numerous for him to take on and stopped providing the service.

In 2006, GEICO began an advertising campaign in which actual customers told their own stories of GEICO experiences, accompanied by a celebrity who helped them make the story interesting. He was featured as the celebrity in one of these ads which began airing in August 2006. In the commercial, he was introduced by the voice-over 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…”

Don Lafontaine Net Worth

Don LaFontaine was an American voice actor who recorded more than 5,000 film trailers and hundreds of thousands of television advertisements, network promotions, and video game trailers. LaFontaine had an estimated Net Worth of $80 million dollars at the time of his death in 2008. His fame and wealth come from his many projects where he lends his voice for television commercials, video game trailers, and movies.

Don Lafontaine Salary

The infamous voice behind thousands of movie trailers, TV advertisements, and network promotions had an estimated Salary of $47,000 thousand dollars per episode as of his death. Ever since it was reported in June 2008 that The Simpsons cast earns $400K per episode.

Don Lafontaine Death | Don Lafontaine Cause Of Death | How Did Don Lafontaine Die | Don Lafontaine Died | Don Lafontaine Phineas And Ferb

On August 22. 2008, he was at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, with a pulmonary embolism and was reported to be in critical condition the following Tuesday. His family made a public appeal for prayers on Mediabistro. Ten days later, LaFontaine died on September 1. 2008 in Los Angeles, California, U.S., six days after his 68th birthday, following complications from a pneumothorax. He died at 68 years old.

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 said in his final line: “In a world… There, I said it. Happy?”‘ The episode also ended with a short tribute to him, although the iTunes, UK, and Spanish versions of the episode omitted the dedication. His final movie trailer voice-over was for Call + Response, a documentary about the global slave trade, for which he donated his talent.

On September 6. 2008, America’s Most Wanted showed a visual with a picture of him with words below that said “In Memoriam: Don 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).

“The Apprentice Scout”, an episode of Chowder, is dedicated to LaFontaine. The episode dedicated his memory and said: “To Don LaFontaine 1940-2008”. The show Phineas and Ferb from Disney also dedicated the episode “The Chronicles of Meap” which he provided the narration for. Fellow voice-over artist and friend John Leader retired from the voice-over business on September 1. 2008 upon learning of LaFontaine’s death. LaFontaine was referenced, with opening clips of his work and several subsequent verbal homages, in the film In a World…, written and directed by Lake Bell.

Don LaFontaine, voiceover king, dies

Don LaFontaine, king of the movie voiceover, has died at the age of 68.

LaFontaine, who was known for habitually using the words “in a world” to preface his work on trailers, died at Cedar-Sinai medical center in Los Angeles of complications from a collapsed lung on Monday, according to ETonline. However, that cause of death was not official at the time of this report.

LaFontaine’s powerful tones appeared on more than 5,000 movie trailers and nearly 350,000 commercials. His website lists voiceovers for Terminator II: Judgement Day, Shrek, Minority Report and Dodgeball among his most famous work, and he had also worked as the in-house announcer at the Oscars and the Screen Actors Guild awards. He was credited as being the busiest ever member of the latter, based on the number of contracts signed in his working life.

LaFontaine had recently parodied himself on a series of US TV commercials for Geico. He was referred to as “that announcer guy from the movies” and stood in the background translating in LaFontaine-speak while a customer revealed her wonderful experience at the hands of the insurance company.

LaFontaine, who was born in Duluth, Minnesota, began his career as a recording engineer but got his big break when he filled in for an absentee voice artist on the 1964 western Gunfighters of Casa Grande.

At his peak, he is said to have recorded more than 60 voiceovers in a week, and sometimes as many 35 in a single day. So busy was he that he employed a full-time chauffeur to ferry him from gig to gig. This, he said, saved him time as he didn’t have to worry about parking in between jobs.

In latter years, with the advent of ISDN, LaFontaine recorded almost exclusively from a home studio at his estate in the Hollywood hills. He is survived by his wife, the singer/actor Nita Whitaker and three children, Christine, Skye and Elyse.

Don Lafontaine Wife

LaFontaine is survived by his wife, actress and singer Nita Whitaker, and three children, Christine, Skye, and Elyse. Joan Studva (m. 1967–1988). He was later married to Joan Studva. The couple married in 1967 and separated in 1988.

Nita Whitaker

Singer Nita Whitaker grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana, the youngest of four children. Her father, Green Whitaker, was a singer with the Spiritual Jubilee vocal group. In her youth, she formed a gospel group with her two sisters, the Whitaker Sisters.

She studied classical voice while attending Northeast Louisiana University, from which she graduated with a B.S. degree in nursing. She won the title of Miss Louisiana in 1984. Moving to Los Angeles, where she married session singer Don LaFontaine and became the mother of two daughters, she won Star Search TV amateur contest for 13 consecutive weeks, making her one of the show’s grand champions.

She was a member of the vocal group Next Millennium, which got as far as an Atlantic Records contract and an unreleased album before breaking up. Her performance on the demonstration recording of “I, Who Have Nothing” for Whitney Houston led to a brief appearance in the 1992 film The Bodyguard.

She made other minor film and television appearances while enjoying more prominent roles in stage musicals such as touring companies of Sweeney Todd and Ragtime, as well as a Broadway-bound show based on the songs of Gamble & Huff, Me and Mrs. Jones, in which she starred as Mrs. Jones, and which premiered in Philadelphia in 2001. Whitaker recorded a self-titled debut album in 1994 and followed it with One Voice, released in 2001.

Don Lafontaine Family | Don Lafontaine Family Guy

He was born on August 26. 1940, in Duluth, Minnesota, to Alfred and Ruby LaFontaine. LaFontaine said his voice cracked at age 13 in mid-sentence, giving him the bass tones that later brought him much fame and success.

After graduating from Duluth Central High School in 1958, he enlisted in the United States Army and worked as a recording engineer for the Army Band and Chorus.

Don Lafontaine Voice | Don Lafontaine Voice Generator | Don Lafontaine Voice Over | Don Lafontaine The Voice

Almanac: Don LaFontaine, the voice of movie trailers

And now a page from our “Sunday Morning” Almanac: August 26, 1940 — 78 years ago today … the day Hollywood found its voice.

For on that day, Don LaFontaine, the “king of coming attractions,” was born in Duluth, Minnesota.

In his 33-year career, LaFontaine lent his voice to more than 5,000 movie trailers and 350,000 commercials … yes, you heard right!

A partial list of Don LaFontaine movie trailers (IMDB.com)

Legendary movie voice (“The Early Show,” 09/27/06)

His ominous, melodramatic baritone became known in the business as the “VOG,” or “Voice of God.” And, as he told CBS News in 1998, it was a gift from above.

After a stint in the Army, LaFontaine was working for a New York radio station when he and a colleague formed a company to produce movie trailers. In 1965, a mix-up prevented an announcer from making a session, and LaFontaine stepped up to the mic … and found his calling.

A colorful writer who often penned his own spots, he will perhaps be best known for his catch-phrase, “In a world …”

13 movie trailers that actually use the phrase “In a World…” (screencrush.com)
The line became SO popular, LaFontaine spoofed himself in a 2005 Geico

Don LaFontaine died in 2008 at the age of 68. But as long as there are movies, and coming attractions, he’ll be playing at a theater near you!

Don Lafontaine In A World | Don Lafontaine Trailers

13 Movie Trailers That Actually Use the Phrase ‘In a World…

In a world, before every movie trailer had a sad cover version of a popular song, one man with an impossibly deep voice changed the way films were advertised forever.

That was Don LaFontaine, seen above; he and several other sandpaper-throated voiceover artists redefined movie advertising in the 1980s with their impossibly solemn readings of flowery copy spiked with phrases like “In a world…” The practice became so widespread it eventually turned into self-parody; LaFontaine poked fun at his own image in commercials, and the entire world of overly serious voiceover guys became the subject of Lake Bell’s very entertaining comedy In a World…

But before it became a cliché, “in a world” was a full-on revolution in the way films were marketed. Here are 13 legitimate examples, plus a couple of bonus trailers where they mixed up the phrase ever so slightly. (“In a part of the world!”) It was a very different world back then, and it was a little bit silly, but it was a lot of fun to be in it at the time.

Don Lafontaine Voiceover Lab

The SAG-AFTRA Foundation Don LaFontaine (DLF) Voiceover Lab Los Angeles, is a state-of-the-art recording facility that brings together the professionalism and quality of a commercial recording studio and the innovation and educational focus of a classroom environment.

At the DLF Voiceover Lab, SAG-AFTRA members can record voice tracks on demo reels, learn how to use the latest audio recording software, train with top voiceover instructors and network with peers.

The DLF Voiceover Lab is named in memory of legendary voice actor Don LaFontaine and cultivates a thriving community of voice actors who embody his generous spirit of mentorship and giving back.

The DLF Voiceover Lab is a free facility for SAG-AFTRA members and made possible through gifts, grants, and sponsorships. The Foundation never draws on SAG-AFTRA dues or initiation fees.

Don Lafontaine Geico | Don Lafontaine Geico Commercial

He is widely known in the film industry, the man whose nicknames included “Thunder Throat” and “The Voice of God”, became known to a wider audience through commercials for GEICO insurance and the Mega Millions lottery game. In 2006, GEICO began an advertising campaign in which actual customers told their own stories of GEICO experiences, accompanied by a celebrity who helped them make the story interesting.

The Government Employees Insurance Company is an American auto insurance company with headquarters in Maryland. It is the second-largest auto insurer in the United States, after State Farm. GEICO is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway that provides coverage for more than 24 million motor vehicles owned by more than 15 million policyholders as of 2017. GEICO writes private passenger automobile insurance in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

The insurance agency sells policies through local agents, called GEICO Field Representatives, over the phone directly to the consumer via licensed insurance agents, and through their website. Its mascot is a gold dust day gecko with a Cockney accent, voiced by English actor Jake Wood. GEICO is well known in popular culture for its advertising, having made numerous commercials intended to entertain viewers.

Who Replaced Don Lafontaine

Who could replace LaFontaine in this holy trinity? Freeman is too obvious and has his place already. Earl Jones is to Darth Vadery and CNN-ish. John Facenda, the original “Voice of God,” has been dead for over 20 years.

Don LaFontaine, part of the holy trinity that makes up the “Voice of God” (the other two parts are James Earl Jones and, of course, Morgan Freeman) has passed away. It was sad news indeed; yet the Hollywood mantra is that the show must go on.

He was replaced by Hal Douglas.  People confuse LaFontaine and Douglas all the time anyway. Douglas did a lot of “In a world …” spots too and their voices are pretty similar. If there is one guy and one guy only who can replace LaFontaine as our most beloved trailer voice guy, it’s him.

Douglas earned a lot of fans when he appeared in that great Comedian trailer. The problem is, most of them thought that was LaFontaine.

Don Lafontaine Trailers List | Don Lafontaine Movie Trailer List | Don Lafontaine Movie | Don Lafontaine Movie Trailers

Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story 2005

Claire Makes it Big 1999

Plump Fiction 1998

Santa vs. the Snowman 3D 1997

The Birdcage 1996

Pulp Fiction 1994

A Man Called Sarge 1990

Scrooged 1988

Time Walker 1982

The Making of Star Wars 1977

Don Lafontaine Impression | Don Lafontaine Pablo Francisco

Comedian Pablo Francisco is somewhere in Virginia Beach, en route to another round of publicity interviews, and his cell phone is stuck under his seat. He and his driver can hear it ringing but decide to retrieve it after they arrive at their destination. Except that the plan won’t work. He’s supposed to be doing an interview right now. With me.

It takes one writer, one publicist, one driver, and about five phone calls to coordinate a mid-trip pull over to the side of road to free the trapped cell and get Francisco on the phone. But hey, it’s hard to keep your schedule straight when you perform all over the world.

Francisco — most famous for his impression of Don LaFontaine, the late movie-trailer voiceover master — just wrapped up a mega tour in Sweden, and he’s played everywhere from Australia to South Africa to Amsterdam.

“The Internet is a great tool to reach people out there in Scandinavia and those places,” he says. “They do have television, some have cable, some have satellite, but a lot of people don’t. And they all go to YouTube after 10 o’clock at night and watch a little Oprah and they watch Dr. Phil, and comedians are going up there now. … It’s basically breaking through to a new demographic. You can be a star even if you’re not a star.”

Australia is one of Francisco’s favorite places. “It’s just a vibe to the (place), and the way the people talk is hilarious,” he says. “They’re so opposite. Everyone knows each other. So you see two people having a bar fight, and they get their friends to back them up, it’s not gonna work.”

This year, he’s back in the U.S., where we have something no other country does: Jimmy Fallon. Francisco and Fallon go way back, to acting class days, and Francisco loves to visit Fallon’s late-night show.

“I’ll try my material on him, and he makes it better,” Francisco says. “We both went our different routes after acting class, but he remembered me, and we started where we left off.” While Fallon went the SNL and talk show route, Francisco worked his way up the ranks of stand-up.

Francisco’s highly successful strategy — pop culture meets impressions meets observational stand up — is an art he’s still expanding. His latest challenge? Mark Wahlberg. “He’s in every movie,” the comedian says. “He’s the new Ironman.” He’s also testing out Vin Diesel. “I’m trying to work on Vin Diesel, watching Riddick. Vin Diesel is hard. I think he has a voice box or something down there.” Justin Bieber might be in his future, but Francisco is quick to note he “can’t get arrested right now.”

Don Lafontaine Interview | Don Lafontaine Video | Don Lafontaine Youtube

Backstage’s Emmy Award-Winning Segment: The Voice of God

Don Lafontaine Quotes | Don Lafontaine Script

The greatest hits of Don LaFontaine

DodgeBall
“There are those who are born to be winners, and then… there are these guys.”

The Godfather Part II
“A drama of absolute power and the men who violate it… The motion picture masterpiece of the year.”

Shrek
“‘Twas long ago and far away, inland as different as night from day, where fairytale creatures of a magical sort, were banished by a prince who was… really short.”

Minority Report
“The future can be seen. Murder can be stopped…The system can’t be wrong.”

Striking Distance
“They should’ve never put him in the water if they didn’t want him… to make waves.”

Friday the 13th
“Friday the 13th. You may only see it once, but that…will be enough.”

Batman Returns
“From the rooftops of Gotham, the purrrfect enemy comes to life. And the only one who can save this city… is a creature of the night.”

Terminator 2: Judgement Day
“Same make. Same model. New Mission. Once he was programmed to destroy the future. Now his mission…is to protect it.”

Cast Away
“At the edge of the world, the end of a man’s journey…will become the beginning of his life.”

Ghostbusters
“Ghosts. They’re real. They’re mean…They’re here.”