SaVoa.Org

Yesterday, the voice over community lost one of its truly great voices, Don LaFontaine, both a pioneer in the industry and a true inspiration to voice over artists around the world.  We at SaVoa would like to extend our sincerest condolences to Don’s many friends, his family, and in particular his three children, Christine, Skye and Elyse and Don’s wife, actress/singer Nita Whitaker, whom he readily acknowledged as “the other voice in the family.”

Don was born in Minnesota in 1940 and began his career in the 1960’s as a recording engineer. This gave him the opportunity to voice promos. His commanding vocal delivery soon brought him more voice work, making him not only one of the most in-demand voice actors, but ultimately one of the most recognized. In 2007, Don and veteran voice talent Gina Tuttle shared announcer duties at the 79th Annual Academy Awards. After receiving his Oscar for An Inconvenient Truth, Vice-President Al Gore walked backstage and remembered Don LaFontaine from his now famous GEICO spot.

Throughout his career, Don remained a prolific and much sought-after voice talent. Often referred to as the King of the Movie Trailers or even the Voice of God, Don worked on thousands of films, TV shows and other projects during his 40 years in the voice industry, mostly off camera, but sometimes in front of it. Most notably, he appeared in the 1997 comedy short, Five Men in a Limo, with Nick Tate, Al Chalk, John Leader and Mark Elliott — all top voice talents for English movie trailers.

Good voice over work is considered somewhat transparent, but the profession as a whole does not need to be. Don is widely acknowledged, certainly by this organization, as someone who put voice over on the advertising and entertainment industry maps.  He continues to be admired and respected by clients and voice talents alike and will be truly missed.