Entertainment
Voiceover Legend Don LaFontaine Dies
By Jay Murry
Sep 2, 2008 - 7:17:41 AM

The "King of Voiceovers" has been silenced.  Don LaFontaine died yesterday afternoon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.  "Entertainment Tonight" reports LaFontaine passed away following complications from an illness called pneumothorax, after one of his lungs collapsed. 

LaFontaine was instantly recognizable as the voice in the movie trailer industry, and also lent his talents to CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, UPN and other networks.  He recently parodied himself on a series of national television commercials for Geico.  His deep voice had a smooth yet electric tone, and he parlayed that into a tremendous career providing voices to ads and movie previews.

At last count, LaFontaine worked on nearly 5,000 films, including appearances as the in-show announcer for the Screen Actors Guild and Academy Awards.  Conservative estimates are that he voiced hundreds of thousands of television and radio commercials, including spots for Chevrolet, Pontiac, Ford, Budweiser, McDonalds and Coke, among other corporate sponsors. 

Don LaFontaine is survived by his wife, singer/actress Nita Whitaker, and three children.