King of Voiceovers now a voice of the past

Don LaFontaine, the voice of thousands of commercials and nearly five thousand movie trailers died Monday in Los Angeles at age 68.

He made his first scratch track in 1965, when a mix-up in scheduling prevented an announcer from making a session. To his surprise, the client (MGM) bought his take and he became the VO for Chevrolet, Pontiac, Ford, Budweiser, McDonald's, Coke, NBC, CBS and many others. What made his voice so appealing? It was deeply resonant and perfectly modulated to lend authority to whatever he said, even if he was talking about frozen vegetables.



No better illustration of the difference between the voice of a king and that of a commoner than this Geico spot in which LaFontaine made a rare appearance.



A few moments of silence for him today.

olympic size sperm

Friend writes:

I've been glued to the TV watching the Olympics every night, and as I've watched the men's swim races, which have undoubtedly been the most incredible we've ever seen, I kept thinking they reminded me of something.....something that wasn't human. It kept gnawing at me.

I finally figured it out...they look like giant sperm.

Which made me remember this commercial for Durex. (Sorry, cribbed copy and youtube is all I've got time for.)