Don LaFontaine RIP

You may not recognize the name Don LaFontaine but you will almost certainly recognize his voice. Don was THE voice of Hollywood movie trailers for most of the last four decades. If you did voice-over work and you weren't Don LaFontaine, the best you could do was hope to sound like Don LaFontaine.

I first got into computer-based audio editing because a friend of mine had aspirations to be a big time voice-over guy and needed help with his demo tape. He often spoke of LaFontaine as both his hero and his nemesis. While LaFontaine would voice trailers for more than 5000 movies over his career, my friend only managed a few cartoon character impersonations for a local BBQ joint on AM radio before he went back to waiting tables. I imagine it's kind of like taking swimming classes after watching Michael Phelps at the Olympics.

I tend to have a fondness for celebrities that aren't above poking fun at themselves (William Shatner's Se7en parody is one of my favorite examples of this). This is Don LaFontaine in his private limo offering a ride to some of his "peers" on the way to some gala event. Does anyone other than me remember Nick Tate from Space 1999?