Don LaFontaine, whose voice has been heard on movie trailers for decades, has gone public on a Geico commercial. That was reason enough for Radar Online to chat up the king of voiceovers and learn that he has said "In a world..." thousands of times and takes credit for introducing the phrase into trailers. He meant it a joke, but "no one laughs, because you're preconditioned to hear it."

RADAR: Why did you decide to do the Geico commercial?

DON LaFONTAINE: It sounded like a fun afternoon. I had no idea it would have the impact on my career that it's had, because now people recognize me. It's a little unnerving, because it's not something I'm used to. But I didn't plan it that way.

Was there any concern that seeing what you actually look like could remove the mysterious quality that makes your voice so powerful?

That just recently occurred to me. I didn't think about it at the time. I got so used to meeting people over the years and their finding out who I was and saying, "Oh, you're that guy. I pictured you differently. I thought you were 6'5"."

Radar Online also follows up all the media coverage of the Horizons West surf shop on Main Street in Santa Monica that the Dogtown Z Boys of skateboard fame sort of made famous: "You know you're in the the belly of the Los Angeles beast when an historic landmarks commissioner describes a tumbledown skate and surf shop as 'the most culturally significant thing in Santa Monica.' But that's how preservationist Ruthan Lehrer put it to the local rag, Westside Chronicle, this week."

Photo: Radar