Ben Burtt

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.

Awards & recognition

• ★Academy Award — Best Sound Editing · 1990
• ★Academy Award — Best Sound Editing · 1983
• ★Special Achievement Academy Award · 1982
• ★Special Achievement Academy Award · 1978
• ☆Academy Award — Best Sound · 2009 · nominated