Ben Burtt
Sound
Born: 1948-07-12 in Jamesville, New York, USA
Biography
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.
Known For
WALL·E
WALL·E / M-O (voice)
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
Naboo Courier (uncredited)
Return of the Jedi
'Freeze' Officer in Endor Bunker / Tortured Power Droid (voice)
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
Wat Tambor (uncredited)
LIGHT & MAGIC
Self - Sound Designer and Editor
LIGHT & MAGIC
Self - Editor
BURN·E
WALL·E / M-O (voice) (uncredited)
Under the Helmet: The Legacy of Boba Fett
Self
Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy
Self - Sound Designer
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound
Self
Fog City Mavericks
Self
Within a Minute: The Making of Star Wars Episode III
Self
SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back
Self
R2-D2: Beneath the Dome
Self
And the Oscar Goes To...
Self - Interviewee
From Puppets to Pixels: The Making of Star Wars Episode II
Self
From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga
Self
Amazing! Exploring the Far Reaches of Forbidden Planet
Self
WALL·E's Treasures & Trinkets
WALL·E / M-O (voice)
The Making of 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'
Self
George Lucas: Creating an Empire
Self
I Am Your Father
Himself
Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema
Self
The Force of Sound
Self
Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001
Self
The Making of The Empire Strikes Back
Self
Star Wars: Music by John Williams
Self
Star Wars: The Magic & the Mystery
Self
When Star Wars Ruled the World
Self
The Sound of 'Indiana Jones'
Self
Michael Curtiz: The Greatest Director You Never Heard Of
Self
Robby the Robot: Engineering a Sci-Fi Icon
Self
RKO Production 601: The Making of “Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World”
Self
The Making of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Self
Lincoln: An American Journey
Self
State of the Art: The Pre-Visualization of 'Episode II'
Self
A Bucket of Water and a Glass Matte
Wings: Grandeur in the Sky
Self
Films Are Not Released, They Escape
Self