In a world where something special is needed to rise above the din and get attention, LaFontaine was called upon often. As a voice-over artist, he narrated promotional spots on TV and for the movies.
A lot of them: since his voice-over start in 1965 (for the trailer for “Gunfighters of Casa Grande”), he has recorded an estimated 350,000 television commercials and 5,000 movie trailers. His deep baritone led him to be known as “the VOG” — the Voice Of God. He “understood the dynamics of each word and gave each word a musical note that was intuitive,” said Joan Baker, author of Secrets of Voice-Over Success, “which is why he could perform in so many genres — action, drama, comedy, romance, horror films, science fiction.”
LaFontaine wrote most of his own scripts, and would write what sounded best. That led to quite a few familiar phrases, including “a one-man army”, “from the bedroom to the boardroom”, and the now-cliche “In a world where…” (such as, “In a world where a one-man army goes from the bedroom to the boardroom…”). He died September 1 at 68.