The Wilhelm Scream

Over Christmas, a relative tipped me off to a fascinating bit of movie trivia: A scream sound effect that has been used in over 100 Hollywood films from 1951 to the present, including everyone of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies.

Here's a compilation of uses of the scream, starting in 1953.



Here is a short interview about the history and significance of the Wilhelm Scream, in which we learn that the vocal talent responsible for the original effect may have been Sheb Wooley, of "Purple People Eater" fame.



Steve Lee, the movie historian and sound man in that last clip, has a page about the Wilhelm Scream on his Hollywood Lost and Found website, which was "created to promote interest in the history of Hollywood and the art of filmmaking - with special emphasis on Film Sound, Movie Props, and Locations." In the props section, you can learn things like what happened to those 500 tribbles.