http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/09/02/entertainment/e102033D49.DTL&tsp=1<b,121<b,121Don LaFontaine, the man who popularized the catch phrase "In a world where..." and lent his voice to thousands of movie trailers, has died. He was 68. LaFontaine died Monday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center from complications in the treatment of an ongoing illness, said Vanessa Gilbert, his agent.<b,121<b,121LaFontaine made more than 5,000 trailers in his 33-year career while working for the top studios and television networks.<b,121<b,121In a rare on-screen appearance in 2006, he parodied himself on a series of national television commercials for a car insurance company where he played himself telling a customer, "In a world where both of our cars were totally under water..."<b,121<b,121In an interview last year, LaFontaine explained the strategy behind the phrase.<b,121<b,121"We have to very rapidly establish the world we are transporting them to," he said of his viewers. "That's very easily done by saying, `In a world where ... violence rules.' `In a world where ... men are slaves and women are the conquerors.' You very rapidly set the scene."<b,121<b,121LaFontaine insisted he never cared that no one knew his name or his face, though everyone knew his voice.<b,121<b,121LaFontaine went on to work in the promo industry in the early 1960s. As an audio engineer, he produced radio spots for movies with producer Floyd Peterson.<b,121<b,121When an announcer didn't show up for a recording session in 1965, LaFontaine voiced his first narration, a promo for the film, "Gunfighters of Casa Grande." The client, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, liked his performance.<b,121<b,121LaFontaine remained active until recently, averaging seven to 10 voiceover sessions a day. He worked from a home studio his wife nicknamed "The Hole," where his fax machine delivered scripts.<b,121<b,121LaFontaine is survived by his wife, the singer and actress Nita Whitaker, and three daughters.<b,121<b,121His funeral arrangements were pending.
