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Ben Burtt

Sound · Born July 12, 1948 · Jamesville, New York, USA

Benjamin "Ben" Burtt, Jr. is a sound designer, film editor, director, screenwriter, and voice actor. He has worked as sound designer on various films, including the Star Wars and Indiana Jones film series, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, WALL-E, and Star Trek. He is responsible for creating many of the iconic sound effects heard in the Star Wars film franchise, including the binary speech of R2-D2, the lightsaber hum, the sound of the blaster guns, and the heavy-breathing sound of Darth Vader, which he made by breathing into a scuba regulator. Burtt has a reputation for popularizing a sound effect dubbed the "Wilhelm scream", which was taken from a character named Wilhelm in the 1953 film The Charge at Feather River.

Movies with Ben Burtt

• WALL·E (2008) — WALL·E / M-O (voice)
• Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) — Naboo Courier (uncredited)
• Return of the Jedi (1983) — 'Freeze' Officer in Endor Bunker / Tortured Power Droid (voice)
• Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) — Wat Tambor (uncredited)
• Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001 (2007) — Self
• Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound (2019) — Self
• Under the Helmet: The Legacy of Boba Fett (2021) — Self
• Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy (2004) — Self - Sound Designer
• From Puppets to Pixels: The Making of Star Wars Episode II (2002) — Self
• Within a Minute: The Making of Star Wars Episode III (2005) — Self
• BURN·E (2008) — WALL·E / M-O (voice) (uncredited)
• And the Oscar Goes To... (2014) — Self - Interviewee