A Great Voice

Hal Douglas — one of the most accomplished movie-trailer voice-over artists of all time — died Friday at his home in Lovettsville, Virginia, the New York Times reports. The cause was complications of pancreatic cancer. He was 89 years old.

Says the Times:

Mr. Douglas was known for a generation in the voice-over industry as one of the top two or three go-to talents, along with Don LaFontaine, the most prolific, who died in 2008, and Don Morrow, the voice of the Titanic trailer … The flexibility of his voice, and the longevity of his career — he worked steadily until two years ago — made him a “one name” phenomenon in Hollywood, said Marice Tobias, a consultant and voice coach to many A-list actors. “When you go past superstar status, you reach icon status in this business, where people know you by one name only,” she said. “That was Hal.”

Added Deadline, simply enough: “Douglas was the Michael Jordan of movie trailer voiceover guys.”

You can see him below in the very popular concept trailer for Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedian, in which he plays a voice-over guy not suited for a gig:

And below, you can catch some of his other most notable work.

And here he is, in a short film about his life. R.I.P., Hal.