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Hal Douglas, The Voice Of Many, Many Movie Trailers, Dies At 89

Movie trailers have changed a lot, and if you show a teenager now a trailer from (for instance) 1997, it will seem almost comedically anachronistic and corny.

But this is how, for many years, we got excited about the movies. And these growly narrations — which were recently the subject of Lake Bell's fine comedy In A World — were a big part of that excitement.

Along with guys like Don LaFontaine, who died in 2008, Hal Douglas provided a lot of those voices — including the one for Con Air, above, as well as Forrest Gump and Lethal Weapon. The New York Times reports that he died last Friday at the age of 89.

So take a moment and appreciate this big voice that many of us heard so very many times. The lines were so cheesy, and the delivery was so satisfying.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Linda Holmes is a pop culture correspondent for NPR and the host of Pop Culture Happy Hour. She began her professional life as an attorney. In time, however, her affection for writing, popular culture, and the online universe eclipsed her legal ambitions. She shoved her law degree in the back of the closet, gave its living room space to DVD sets of The Wire, and never looked back.