Hal Douglas, 89, a titan and go-to talent in the voice-over industry died last week from complications of pancreatic cancer, the New York Times reports.
Douglas, who has narrated thousands of trailers for major flicks like Forest Gump, Men in Black, and Lethal Weapon — retired two years ago and never considered himself to have 'a great voice.'
"This is what you get, this is how I sound. It's a unique sound, it's my sound," Douglas said in “A Great Voice,” a short film about his career.
His career began as an announcer on radio programs in the 1950s which led him to an advertising career in New York. He is best known for his work on film trailers which he started in the 1970s.
“You get the description of the movie, the contexts of the lines that you are doing, and the rest of it is intuitive,” Douglas said. “Movies, particularly, fall into departments. You have an action film, you have a romantic film, you have the dark films. They all suggest an attitude and a voice quality," the Daily Telegraph reports.
Here is a video highlighting his work:
Douglas was known for his sense of humor and agreed to played a cliché voice-over artist named Jack in a rare on-camera role in the trailer for Jerry Seinfeld’s 2002 documentary, “Comedian.”
Here is a clip of the trailer: