I was very sad to hear of the death of Don Lafontaine, otherwise known as The Voice.
You know the one... with those incredibly basso tones, he provided the voice-overs for almost every mainstream Hollywood movie trailer for the last 30 or so years.
"In a world..."
"He was a man... she was a woman..."
"In a time..."
There was a point in my 20s when I found his style irritating. But with age came a great appreciation of irony and I got a certain kick from hearing his sonorous tones. There are some great clips of him on YouTube, including an interesting featurette on Good Morning America and a sweet spoof of himself on a Geico ad.
6 comments:
Sadly, his services seemed to be no longer requested in recent years, as trailers seem to rely more and more on lumps of on-screen text. However overfamiliar LaFontaine's voice might have been, he was used in some memorably distinctive ads (everything from THE GODFATHER to FRIDAY THE 13TH)--nowadays, every single trailer resembles every other one, no matter what the movie is about.
I wonder who will replace him. Will it be someone with another sort of distinctive voice, or will they try to find someone with a very similar voice?
Yes, they were talking about him on the radio. I guess he did thousands of these voice-overs? What an amazing career!
Yes, we all felt as if we knew him, didn't we?
Finally made it here. Well I'm learning so much everyday in the blogsphere and today is another of those days. I was not aware of The Voice and it seems we have lost the voice to a sea of mediocrity.
Edward: I concur, Dr. Hegstrom. What makes me nuts is how every trailer gives away the entire plot to every movie!
LL: Not to worry, as there are several guys out there already who are similarly-gifted in that sort of voice. Still, none of them are Don.
Dave: Yes! He recorded dozens of spots each day from his home studio. He was so efficient, that he ploughed through the assignments like no-one else.
Willow: Yes... sigh.
World Away: Welcome! Hope you make some return visits. I am so enjoying your blog!
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