AI Summary
5 min readThe Voice of God: How Don LaFontaine Invented the Movie Trailer Voice
Don LaFontaine recorded more than 5,000 film trailers and 750,000 television spots over the course of his career. By the end of his life, he was averaging seven voiceovers a day from his home office. He died in 2008 at age 68, and his final recorded line was "In a world." That last performance was for an episode of Phineas and Ferb called "The Chronicles of Meep," and the show included a short tribute to him at the end.
From Recording Engineer to Trailer Pioneer
LaFontaine was born in Duluth, Minnesota, served in the United States Army Band and Chorus, and worked as a recording engineer after his discharge at the National Recording Studios in New York City. In 1962, he connected with radio producer Floyd Peterson, who was working with Stanley Kubrick on radio promos for Dr. Strangelove. The collaboration was successful enough that they formalized their partnership as Floyd L. Peterson Inc.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:52) **Introducing Don LaFontaine, the "Voice of God"** - Josh, Chuck, and Jerry set up the episode on the man known as the movie trailer guy.
- 2 (03:15) **Early Life and Army Career** - Born in Duluth, Minnesota, LaFontaine served in the U.S. Army Band and Chorus as a recording engineer.
- 3 (03:37) **First Break: Partnering with Floyd Peterson** - In 1962, he connected with radio producer Floyd Peterson, who was creating promos for Stanley Kubrick's *Dr. Strangelove*.
- 4 (04:08) **The Big Breakthrough (1965)** - A scheduling mix-up forced LaFontaine to step in as a voiceover actor for MGM's *The Gunfighters of Casa Grande*.
- 5 (05:40) **Inventing the Modern Movie Trailer** - LaFontaine and Peterson created the now-ubiquitous trailer catchphrases.
- 6 (09:20) **Cultural Parody and Mainstream Fame** - His iconic style was widely parodied, notably in Geico commercials and *The Simpsons Movie*.
- 7 (09:54) **Founding His Own Company and Paramount** - In 1976, he started Don LaFontaine Associates. Two years later, Paramount Pictures hired him to run their trailer department.
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Show Notes
Today we salute the great Don LaFontaine, aka The Voice of God in movie and TV trailers.
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