What Was Don LaFontaine's Net Worth and Salary?
Don LaFontaine was an American voice actor who had a net worth of $40 million at the time of his death in 2008. Don LaFontaine, also known as "Thunder Throat" and "the voice of God," was the king of voice-over work. LaFontaine invented the movie trailer catchphrase – "In a world…" – which became iconic.
For a time, Don had a near-monopoly on movie trailer voiceovers. Some notable trailers LaFontaine narrated include "Home Alone," "Ghost," "Speed," "Dick Tracy," "Batman, "Rambo," "Terminator 2: Judgment Day", "Shrek," "Friday the 13th," "Law & Order," and "Batman Returns." Outside of film work, he provided voice-over sfor many commercials, notably for GEICO Insurance and the Mega Millions lottery.
Don LaFontaine died on September 1, 2008, six days after his 68th birthday, following complications from a pneumothorax. During his life, Don recorded over 5,000 film trailers and over 350,000 television spots. Even in his final days, he was averaging seven voice-overs per day, all of which were recorded from the comfort of his state-of-the-art home recording studio.
Salary
According to a 1991 "LA Times" interview, Don was earning "well over $1 million per year" for his voice work. Even if we just take him at his bare minimum word of $1 million, that's the same as making around $2.5 million per year today. And he had likely been earning that much every year for the previous decade.
By the late 1990s and through the rest of his life, Don, on occasion, could command $500 thousand for a single blockbuster movie trailer. It has been rumored that for some blockbuster franchises, he made $1 million for a single trailer. A stunning amount, but arguably money well spent considering the excitement and anticipation his trailers created. His typical rate is believed to be either $30,000 or $70,000 per minute. Assuming two minutes of work was typically needed for a single job, that would be $60,000 – $140,000 per average job.
Early Years
Donald Leroy LaFontaine was born on August 26, 1940, in Duluth, Minnesota. He was the son of Alfred and Ruby LaFontaine. He graduated from Duluth Central High School in 1958 and enlisted in the United States Army, where he served as an audio engineer with the United States Army Band and the United States Army Chorus.
Later, while employed as a recording engineer at National Recording Studios in New York City, LaFontaine produced radio spots for the political satire film "Dr. Strangelove." In 1963, he and producer Floyd Peterson teamed up to produce advertising for the motion picture industry.
(Photo by Dan Tuffs/Getty Images)
Voiceover Work
In 1964, while the western "Gunfighters of Casa Grande" was being filmed, LaFontaine filled in for an absent actor – a move that set him on the road to a long and prosperous career as a voiceover artist. He went on to run the movie trailer production company Kaleidoscope Films Ltd. and, in 1976, he founded his own production company – Don LaFontaine Associates. Not long after, Don was contracted by Paramount Pictures Corporation to produce their trailers and later to serve as vice president of the company's trailer division. His first trailer for Paramount was "The Godfather Part II."
In 1981, LaFontaine left his job at Paramount and moved to Los Angeles, California, where he continued to focus on voiceover work. With a great deal of offers quickly coming in and seemingly no ceiling on what companies were willing to pay him, it wasn't long before he became a millionaire.
LaFontaine produced trailers for every genre and every major film studio, including those for the horror film "Friday the 13th," the animated fantasy movie "Shrek," and the television series "Law & Order."
From 1988 until his death, Don was the announcer on the television true crime series "America's Most Wanted." He also worked as an announcer for newscasts on WCBS-TV in New York City and several World Wrestling Entertainment events. He served as the opening narrator for the television shows "Team Knight Rider," "Rambo: The Force of Freedom" and "Renegade."
His final professional line, "In a world… there I said it. Happy?" was taped for an episode of the animated musical comedy television series "Phineas and Ferb" in which LaFontaine had a voice-over role. His final voice-over in film was for the trailer of the 2008 documentary "Call + Response."
Accolades & Honors
In 2005, LaFontaine was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award during the Hollywood Reporter's Key Art Awards.
In 2010, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists Foundation opened the Don LaFontaine Voiceover Lab in Los Angeles, California. A state-of-the-art recording facility, the lab puts the professionalism and quality of a commercial recording studio together with the innovation and educational focus of a classroom. At the lab, members of SAG, AFTRA, and AEA are welcome to record voice tracks for demo reels, learn how to utilize audio recording software and train with the best voiceover instructors. The facility is maintained through gifts, grants, and sponsorships.
The Golden Trailer Awards includes the Don LaFontaine Award for Best Voiceover, and the SAG-AFTRA Foundation awards the Don LaFontaine Spirit Award to voice actors who exhibit the same dedication and generosity of spirit that LaFontaine showed.
Personal Life
Don married Joan Studva in 1967. They had one child before divorcing in 1988. In 1989, he married actress and producer Nita Whitaker. The couple has three daughters, Christine, Donielle, and Alyse.
Death
After having smoked for many years, LaFontaine was receiving treatments for cancer when he was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, with a pulmonary embolism on August 22, 2008. He died there on September 1, 2008, from a fluid build-up in the lungs. He was buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles.
His widow wrote the book "Finding My Voice: My Journey Through Grief to Grace – Living with the Loss of Don LaFontaine" in 2013. The National Indie Excellence Awards chose the book as its winner in the Grief and Memoir categories that same year as well as the winner of their Discovery Award for best book about death and dying.
Real Estate
In May 1990, Don paid $1.2 million for a 7,000-square-foot mansion in Los Angeles' Los Feliz neighborhood. Today this home is likely worth around $8 million.
