Ben Burtt
Sound • Born 1948-07-12
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.
Filmography
39 credits
WALL·E
Movie • 2008
WALL·E / M-O (voice)
WALL·E's Treasures & Trinkets
Movie • 2008
WALL·E / M-O (voice)
The Making of 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'
Movie • 1996
Self
Star Wars: The Magic & the Mystery
Movie • 1997
Self
BURN·E
Movie • 2008
WALL·E / M-O (voice) (uncredited)
Under the Helmet: The Legacy of Boba Fett
Movie • 2021
Self
From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga
Movie • 1983
Self
Films Are Not Released, They Escape
Movie • 2002
Self
Animation Sound Design: Building Worlds from the Sound Up
Movie • 2008
Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema
Movie • 2005
Self
Robby the Robot: Engineering a Sci-Fi Icon
Movie • 2006
Self
George Lucas: Creating an Empire
Movie • 2005
Self
A Bucket of Water and a Glass Matte
Movie
Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy
Movie • 2004
Self - Sound Designer
The Dawn of Sound: How Movies Learned to Talk
Movie • 2007
Self
The Making of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Movie • 2013
Self
And the Oscar Goes To...
Movie • 2014
Self - Interviewee
Wings: Grandeur in the Sky
Movie • 2012
Self
When Star Wars Ruled the World
Movie • 2004
Self
I Am Your Father
Movie • 2015
Himself
State of the Art: The Pre-Visualization of 'Episode II'
Movie • 2002
Self
Michael Curtiz: The Greatest Director You Never Heard Of
Movie • 2012
Self
The Force of Sound
Movie • 2018
Self
From Puppets to Pixels: Digital Characters in 'Episode II'
Movie • 2002
Self
The Sound of 'Indiana Jones'
Movie • 2003
Self
Star Wars: Music by John Williams
Movie • 1980
Self
Star Wars: Within a Minute - The Making of Episode III
Movie • 2005
Self
EditDroid: Rise and Fall
Movie • 2014
Self
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound
Movie • 2019
Self
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
Movie • 1999
Naboo Courier (uncredited)
Return of the Jedi
Movie • 1983
'Freeze' Officer in Endor Bunker / Tortured Power Droid (voice)
Lincoln: An American Journey
Movie • 2013
Self
R2-D2: Beneath the Dome
Movie • 2001
Self
Amazing! Exploring the Far Reaches of Forbidden Planet
Movie • 2006
Self
The Making of The Empire Strikes Back
Movie • 1980
Self
Fog City Mavericks
Movie • 2007
Self
RKO Production 601: The Making of “Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World”
Movie • 2008
Self
LIGHT & MAGIC
TV • 2022
Self - Sound Designer and Editor
LIGHT & MAGIC
TV • 2022
Self - Editor