R.I.P. Don LaFontaine

RIP MR. LaFontaine. I read about this last night and was bummed about it. I am a fan and he'll be sorely missed. Who will build up the movies with suspense and entertainment now? Keith David? Yeah, he'll do.

Sadly, it was the smoking. Here's a letter he wrote just last week. (long, sorry)
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Update from Don
I thought it was about time that I brought everybody up to speed with what's been happening in my world.

You haven't been hearing a lot from me lately, and that's because I have been fairly seriously ill for the last several months.

In order to give you the complete picture, I need to go back over some material of which many of you are already aware, but this thing needs to be seen in its full context.

Last fall, I began to notice that I was having trouble catching my breath during exercise. Subsequent tests revealed a suspicious growth on my lymph nodes and left lung. This required an exploratory surgery called a Media Stenoscopy, which was performed At Cedars Sinai Hospital in late November of '07. The biopsy ultimately proved negative for any tumor, but there was a spot on the lung that still needed to be checked. Unfortunately, sometime during the operation, one of my lungs was nicked, and I developed Pneumothorax, which basically means that the lung collapsed, releasing all the air into my upper body, causing a condition called Subcutaneous Emphysema - Which blew me up like a balloon from the ribs up to my eyebrows. This happened three times over the next six days. The "cure" for this condition is to place chest tubes and small catheters under the skin to drain off the excess air.

Unfortunately, all that air also accumulated around my vocal cords, causing me to sound like an ambassador from Munchkinland. This condition, I was told, could last for a number of weeks.

We decided to put off a Bronchoscopy to determine the status of the spot on my lung until after the new year, by which time, my breathing had become even more labored.

Again, the test failed to reveal anything more than a few "suspicious" cells - but no cancer. I had also scheduled, months before, a standard Colonoscopy, which I had in January. This revealed a growth on my colon.

Are we having fun, yet?

So - I go back to Cedars to discuss laparoscopic surgery to get rid of that growth, after first undergoing CAT and PET scans. During my consultation with the surgeon, my Oncologist came in with another doctor to tell me that I had a tumor growing under my lung and threatening to encircle my Aortic Valve to my heart.

Suddenly, the surgery was put on hold, and I was scheduled for thirty-seven sessions of intense radiation and four sessions of Chemotherapy, which stretched over the next seven weeks. This included four blood transfusions.

During this time, the effects of the Subcutaneous Emphysema had worn off, and I was able to work again.

After treatment, I was told that it was completely successful, and the growth had been completely eradicated! I was also told that the radiation therapy would continue to work in my system for a number of weeks.

Well, it did.

In rare cases - like mine - it spreads into the lungs and causes a very persistent condition called radiation pnuemonitis. This reduces the lungs capacity to about a quarter, making it almost impossible to walk ten paces without having to stop for air.

The treatment for this condition is massive doses of steroids, which balloons the face and body, and it also settles on the vocal cords in a major way, creating a good deal of gravel and hoarseness. In short - it has brought my career to a near stand-still.

Steroids can also have a major effect on one's heart rate, and blood sugar count - each of which sent me back to Cedars on two separate occasions for four and three day stays within a week of each other. Because of the blood sugar influence, I now have a temporary form of diabetes, and need to take insulin.

This condition will pass as soon as I get the pnuemonitis under control, but it's a balancing act between doses of steroids and insulin.

As I mentioned earlier, this lung thing is incredibly resistant, and to this date, I am still looking for some improvement.

I do work from time to time, but my voice is nowhere close to where I need it to be. Fortunately, I have incredibly faithful friends and clients who have shown me what loyalty really means by working with me, even in my diminished capacity.

I am now recovering from the recovery. When this is cleared up, I still am facing the laparoscopic stomach surgery, but that will be a cakewalk.

But the real point of all this is the Genesis of the condition. I was a smoker, on and off, for thirty years. I quit nearly twenty years ago, but that crap has a tendency to lie doggo in your system. It finally caught up with me, and as you've just read - it ain't pretty. For those of you who are in the Voice Over business, and you think that smoking is adding some wonderful quality to your instrument - WAKE UP! Quit! Today! Whoever you are - if you smoke - Stop! All you are adding is garbage to your vocal cords, and a nice deep layer of tar and poison on the linings of your lungs.

I tell you all this, because I need to clear the air, because there has been a lot of speculation out there, and because it should serve as a cautionary tale. Even though the growth on my lungs has been erased, there are still a few miles to go before I'm back to 100%.

But that, I can assure you - is going to happen!

-Don

oh man this is heartbreaking. i love this guy. RIP

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lizzieb on August 16, 2008 - 9:05am.
The sad thing is that Madge would look good for 50 if she stopped trying to look 35. And ate a few pies, drank a few pints and had a laugh. I don't know why we get so upset about aging when the al

*cries again*

Jerry Reed is gone too!

Can't Shitney go next?? WHY!!!!!!

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Dick happens! - MK

AWWWWWWWWWW!!!!! RIP Don!!!

Over the past few tears they've been using "sound-a-likes"..but it will never be the same!

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"All Those Who Wander Are Not Lost."

I am so upset about this shit. Whhhyyyy couldn't we have him just a little while longer? RIP Don.

Damn shame, he had the world by the cojones. I saw a piece on him a few years ago.

I'm going to miss hearing his voice - he is what made so many movie trailers awesome. R.I.P.

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"...We don't exist for the beautiful people of the world...We're there for the oddball, the rebel, the outcast, the geek!"

aww! and whoa! he's accomplished ALOT!
RiP

The world has changed again, and not for the better. RIP Don.

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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. --Dr. Seuss

I'm actually bummed. Movie trailers just won't be same.
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Cancel my subscription to the resurrection. Send my credentials to the house of detention. I got some friends inside.

Damn. RIP Don

☠

"That was the most ludicrous pack of verbal peanut butter buttfuck I have ever read." ~DebFrmHell

http://www.myspace.com/zoloftpony

Rest in peace. :(

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"Two whores don't make a right"-- M.K.

"Any guy who values stick thin and young over smarts and personality isn't worth it and has NOTHING interesting to say anyway."-- Mrs. Kravitz

I think I saw it on Entertainment Tonight a few years ago that they have him recording track down for a few years should he ever die. I think we would be hearing him for years to come.

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Pretty looks fade...dumb is forever -- Judge Judy

Heaven has a new heralding angel.

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I didn’t say that it was your fault – I said that I was going to blame you.
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FUCK!!!!

no way. this cool cat has gone to eternal rest. whoa. deep. he has the best voice. present tense.

That sucks! I always thought he had a killer voice. A friend of mine that lives in LA was his neighbor. Don's maid complained once that my friend's party was too rowdy.

Nooooo!!!!!!! *cries*

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I am Mexican and and I do think Michael Bay's "Transformers" is racist.

Movie trailers will never be the same!

So terrible!! RIP Don...:(

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Cheese… milk's leap toward immortality.

There will be no other...

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Neely, you know it's bad to take liquor with those pills.
They work faster.

aww, i loved his voice, always there.. in the background RIP

-=meow hiss purr=-

Ahh that's so sad! I love him. That's one hell of a body of work.

He made panties moist for well over three decades!

what are the sluts gon' do?!

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The lines between sex and society are so fine and blurred... even Amy Winehouse wouldn't snort it.

http://societysex.blogspot.com/

oh man...this really makes me sad...lafontaine is irreplaceable...i'vetaken vo classes...he is a legend in these circles...rip....
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so pretty. so fat. so sad!!!

He is my favorite. Just saw his personals ID on millionaires personals site """C e l e b C u p i d.c o m"""""" yesterday. I am wondering what kind of relationship he is looking for on ~that site.

Good lord!! That man is irreplaceable.

Please Mr. Francis Ford Coppola, make a Godfather part 4 with Talia Shire as the Godfather and Kay finally with the program.

Poor Don. Now what will we do. Trailers wont be the same for a long time to come.

He's irreplaceable. What will we do now without his fabulous sound? RIP.

Damn MK...give me better news for the rest of the day.Peace out big DON.

Noooo!! Lies. He can't be dead! God, please take someone else. I have a list of names...

RIP Don. Your voice will live on forever!

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Surfing the apocalypse.

Dude was awesome...RIP.

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"Someday we'll all be gone but lullabies go on and on...they never die, that's how you and I will be..." -Billy Joel

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO this is awful!!!

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"Laugh alone and the world thinks you're an idiot".

I hope there isn't drama with his estate, he made some serious coins doing this.

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Dick happens! - MK

Sadness. RIP Don. :(

☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺
El corazón no envejece; es el cuero que se arruga.

"In a blog where only the brave would tread" *cut scene to someone typing* "an article was posted that sunk the hearts of even the toughest bloggers"

I said that in a movie announcer voice, but not as well as Don would have. :(

RIP

In a world where movie trailers have lost their voice, a drifter waits in the shadows to try to bring it back...WHO IS HE??

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http://www.myspace.com/rainbowsrule

I know you're watching over us, Pap. I love you, I miss you already.

Collapsed lung = smoking, right? Maybe that's where his deep voice came from.

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Quicker than his own shadow.

Parting is such sweet sorrow.

☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺
Hey, take it easy, will ya? I mean, the war's over. Get new parts for your head. -- Thornton Melon

That is a shame, RIP I loved to hear his voice. It made me all warm inside like a nice cup of cocoa.
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Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strenght.

An Eye for an Eye Leaves Everybody Blind!

Save an animal in a shelter: Http://dogsindanger.com

How sad. Like Joanne said, another wonderful talent gone. He had such an amazing voice.

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"Crocs: They are to your eyes what second-hand smoke is to your lungs."

Oh noooooo! I'm a voiceover artist, and Don is a God to us. This is really sad. He seemed like such a fun person.

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Don't dream it... BE it!

awwwwwww very sad. :(

Fair Winds and Following Seas.

RIP

Loved his voice - damn shame.

RIP.

Submitted by piepenburg on September 2, 2008 - 10:05am.

STFU

*clicks report abuse*

*cries*

I seriously loved his work, he was on a radio show here a long time ago, he was so cool on it.

The only voice over person I liked more is Peter Cullen, if anything happened to Optimus Prime I would lose it.

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Dick happens! - MK