Hal Douglas
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Hal Douglas is a voice actor who has lent his deep voice to many movie trailers and television commercials. He has been described by a Miramax publicist as "perhaps the most recognizable trailer voice in the business." audio clip (MP3)
Because he has recorded so many trailers through the years, he has sometimes been mistaken for Don LaFontaine, although they sound considerably different. Douglas specializes in a more lighthearted and warm delivery and LaFontaine has more attitude. Douglas also has a more gravelly voice. Unlike most movie trailer announcers, Douglas lives in northern Virginia and his agent is based in New York City instead of Los Angeles.
Douglas is known in the film industry as the "In a world..." guy because many of his trailers have begun with these words and his voice has immortalized them (although LaFontaine says he actually created the phrase). In addition, Douglas has been the promotional voice for the former WB, A&E and The History Channel. His voice can also be heard as the "trailer announcer" in the 2006 movie, The Holiday. [1]
Douglas was born in Connecticut in 1924, served in WWII and attended the University of Miami, Florida as a drama major. He began a career in Radio in the 50s. By the 1960s he became a producer for several prominent advertising agencies in New York. He finally moved into doing voiceovers for commercials, promos and trailers by the early 70s and has been doing so ever since.
Hal Douglas can be seen parodying himself in the trailer for Jerry Seinfeld's film Comedian. See the links below.
[edit] Radio
Hal also does work for I95.5 FM in Trinidad and Tobago.[citation needed]
