"When you die, the voice you hear in Heaven is not Don's. It's God, trying to sound like Don." -- Ashton Smith
I'm not even sure what to write here. I'm always sad to hear about the death of an actor or director who's had an impact on me or whose work I've enjoyed. And 2008 is turning out to be a rough year that way. But this one in particular leaves me especially sad.
Don LaFontaine is the most uncredited guy in Hollywood. Every time you hear "In a world..." during a movie trailer, it's probably Don. His distinct voice was heard in over 5,000 movie trailers.
Now that voice has been silenced. Don died from complications related to a collapsed lung. He was 68.
I never had a chance to meet Don, but I talked to him briefly through email a few times. He agreed to come on RandomChatter as a guest host. I was surprised by that, since he seemed to be a pretty busy guy. But rather than say, "I'm sorry, I'm just too busy," he told me "I'm too busy right now, but let's see if we can work something out in a few months." As insignificant as that may seem, it meant a lot to me that he wasn't writing us off and was honestly trying to set something up to be on the show. I regret that I'll never get to hear any of his stories first-hand; I'm sure talking to him about his life and career would have been an incredible experience, and I'm sure he had some fascinating stories to tell. I can only hope he will be remembered in the years to come.
Thanks to Cinematical for the videos.
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