Dan's Media Digest

THE VOICE-OVER GUY

We all know the voice. The gravel-throated man who intones ominously over hundreds of movie trailers -- often to ridiculously cheesey effect. Phrases he's often called upon to say (in all deadly seriousness) include "in a world..." or "one man, one destiny...", etc. You've heard him a million times. Well, this unsung hero of cinema is Don LaFontaine; a 66-year-old voice-over artist who has actually narrated over 4000 trailers!

Don isn't the only man in his niche field, though. There are three other artists who have copied Don's style and are just as recognisable (and often all mistaken for the same person). They are Tex Brashear, Peter Cullen (also the voice of Optimus Prime in Transformers, fact-fans!) and Hal Douglas.

The four men are pretty interchangeable vocally having copied Don's original style, and now ensure that the "deep voiced movie trailer" is a cinematic cliche that's still going strong decades later.

Hal Douglas even got his a turn in the limelight when he starred in the trailer for Jerry Seinfeld's movie Comedian. It's a very funny trailer, and a great parody of Douglas' role in countless movies through the years.

Take a look for yourself...