Donald LaFontaine ( August 26 , 1940 -- September 1 , 2008 ) was an American voice actor . His deep voice could be heard in a large amount of movie trailers and television advertisements . Donald Leroy `` Don '' LaFontaine ( August 26 , 1940 â `` September 1 , 2008 ) was an American voiceover artist famous for recording more than 5,000 film trailers and hundreds of thousands of television advertisements , network promotions , and video game trailers .