Oh, crap. He's one of those institutions you just assumed would be around forever.

Seducing moviegoers into theaters for more than four decades, Mr. LaFontaine's sonorous baritone could make the dullest dog of a movie sound like a surefire Oscar contender. Until he died of undetermined causes Sept. 1 in Los Angeles at 68, Mr. LaFontaine was one of the busiest performers in Screen Actors Guild history.

In addition to movie trailers -- more than 5,000 in all -- he provided the voiceover for about 350,000 TV commercials, as well as network promotions and video game trailers. His voice was so ubiquitous and so recognizable, he occasionally parodied himself -- most recently in a Geico insurance commercial that first aired in 2006, where a fellow voiceover announcer introduces him as "that announcer guy from the movies."

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Read the full story at the Washington Post.

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