Ten Guys Who Could Step In For Don LaFontaine

Ian McShane and David Strathairn are just two of the actors whose voices make our list.
In this Feb. 14, 2007 file photo Don LaFontaine, a voice over actor, records a commercial in his recording studio in Los Angeles.
In this Feb. 14, 2007 file photo Don LaFontaine, a voice over actor, records a commercial in his recording studio in Los Angeles. - AP
Dre Rivas

It has already been widely reported that Don LaFontaine, part of the holy trinity that make up the "Voice of God" (the other two parts are James Earl Jones and, of course, Morgan Freeman) has passed away. It was sad news indeed; yet the Hollywood mantra is that the show must go on. But how will it go?

Who could replace LaFontaine in this holy trinity? Freeman is too obvious and has his place already. Earl Jones is too Darth Vadery and CNN-ish. John Facenda, the original "Voice of God," has been dead for over 20 years. But fear not. Uncle Dre has a solution. Ten, actually.

Hal Douglas
People confuse LaFontaine and Douglas all the time anyway. Douglas did a lot of "In a world ..." spots too and their voices are pretty similar. If there is one guy and one guy only who can replace LaFontaine as our most beloved trailer voice guy, it's him. Douglas earned a lot of fans when he appeared in that great Comedian trailer. The problem is, most of them thought that was LaFontaine.

Nick Tate
Not as thunderous a voice as Douglas or LaFontaine, but still distinctive. Fans of Lost may know Tate as the Aussie farmer who turned in Kate to the authorities (he had a hell of a mortgage) early on in season one. Others will remember him as the trailer guy on movies such as Jurassic Park.

David Strathairn
An underrated actor with an underrated voice. Strathairn won't give you overly dramatic voice-over so he would probably best be used for more subdued dramas. He's your Oscar-movie voice actor. Check out his U.S. Open commercial or even better, his Obama profile for the Democratic National Convention.

Ian McShane
To be honest, I've never heard McShane do a voice-over but the guy has a great, gravelly voice and he actually looks a little like LaFontaine. At the very least, if they're thinking of doing a Don LaFontaine movie, McShane's the guy. Bonus if he manages to throw in a few curses. This f***ing summer, some god-forsaken adventure belongs to one f***ing guy ...

Liev Schreiber
He does a ton of voice-over work already and he's played Orson Welles before. Double-whammy.

TIE: Will Lyman and Hugh Ross
I'm nominating these guys solely for their roles as narrator in Little Children and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford respectively. I haven't seen anything else they've done and I don't need to.

Keith David
If you've watched The War by Ken Burns or caught an episode of City Confidential or even if you've seen Keith David in a movie, then you know the power of the guy's voice. He can move city buses with that thing.

Jeremy Irons
Let it be known I would have it in Iron's contract that he must at least once -- whether or not it makes any sense whatsoever -- say, "Run, Siiiiimbaaaaa!"

Peter Coyote
The voice of the Oscars can become the voice of your movie theater, at least for the colder months. I like Coyote. I get that warm and fuzzy feeling when I hear his voice. I think of log cabins in December, toasted marshmallows and ice-skating over winter lakes. I think of Coyote telling us "This winter, Detective John McClane is back!" That type of thing.

Harry Kalas
After the original "Voice of God," John Facenda, died someone had to take up the mantle for the NFL and it turned out that man was Harry Kalas. Kalas isn't quite up to Facenda's majesty, but he could certainly handle a few bad Eddie Murphy comedies.


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