We here at DumbMovies have no problem heaping praise to people in the film industry who deserve more than we can offer, just in the same way that we have no problem heaping literary manure to people int he film industry who deserve more than the entire fertilizer industry can dump on them, pun intended.

Voice actor Don LaFontaine died today at this week at the age of 68, according to The Internet Movie Database.

The name might not sound familiar, but the voice is unmistakable. Listen to this…

That’s right. It’s the trailer voice over guy who made “Over the Top” look watchable.

He’s done over 5,000 voice overs for movie trailers in his career with his signature voice, a dark, crisp, raspy voice that made dumb movies seem fun and turned the multiplex into a thing of hope, only to have that hope die a slow horrible death once the actual films hit the theaters.

He is probably one of a few responsible for the traditional movie trailer as we know it today. He pretty much invented the job of “movie trailer voice over” guy. He had a style for every kind of movie. Horror movie trailers were done in a quiet, slow voice that created a sense of eeriness before the big jump. Action movie trailers had a hard, forceful tone where every syllable is punctuated for maximum effect. He created the phrase “In a world…” for God’s sake. This ranks right up there with the guy who invented fake popcorn butter and the guy who realized movie theaters could make even more money if they never cleaned the bathrooms.

So instead of focusing on the career that made him famous or posting a bunch of trailers that just focus on his career, I’ve got something with a little more polish and therefore, a lot more shine. As you’ll see in this profile video I found on YouTube, his career in movies goes way beyond doing trailer voice-overs. But more importantly, he just seems like a nice down-to-Earth guy who appreciates what he has and can do and loves sharing it with as many people as possible. In other words, he’s not a Hollywood prick. We just let the Pink Panther diamond slip through our fingers once again, folks.