Who is the voice of the Wilhelm scream?
In-jokes are an incredibly important part of forming community and connecting others, which is why memes are such a popular form of communication in the modern world. But memes have existed before the internet was even invented, and the Wilhelm scream is the perfect example.
For years, it has been used in films as a sort of cinematic in-joke, oversaturating movies to an annoying degree, although sometimes it’s used on purpose with meme-like intention, a subtle nod to years of cliché and overuse.
The Wilhelm scream sits alongside a few other classic stock sound effects, like the Howie scream or the Diddy laugh, which filmmakers have repeatedly reached for in spite of the fact that they have appeared countless times already in other pieces of media.
Many movie lovers roll their eyes at the sound of a stock sound effect, especially if it appears in a film that you wouldn’t expect—something with serious artistic merit, for example—but sometimes, reaching for a pre-recorded sound is just quicker and easier.
Whatever the reason for a stock sound effect’s use, it’s interesting to trace their origins. The iconic Wilhelm scream gained notoriety when it was used in Star Wars back in 1977, but it actually emerged quite a few years before the classic sci-fi movie was released, although the person responsible for the scream itself remains up for debate.
Who is the voice of the Wilhelm scream?
While it can’t be officially confirmed, it appears highly likely that the actor Sheb Wooley was responsible for the classic scream following his appearance in the 1951 film Distant Drums. He only plays a very minor, uncredited role, but it is largely agreed that Wooley delivered the scream that was later recorded to be dubbed over the scene. While it could’ve been a sound engineer or another actor, the fact that Wooley’s wife, Linda Doston-Wooley, joked about her husband’s screaming in a 2005 interview seems to suggest that it was, in fact, him.
The recording of his scream was labelled ‘Man getting bit by an alligator, and he screams’, and it was soon put into the Warner Bros sound library for use in other films. Yet, it then became one of the most-used sounds, quickly becoming a cliché in Hollywood. That didn’t stop it from being inserted into many blockbusters over the years, however, and there are reportedly over 400 movies out there that feature the recording.
Interestingly, the scream is named after a character, Private Wilhelm, who was dubbed with the scream in 1953’s The Charge at Feather River. It was the third instance of the scream ever being used in cinema following Distant Drums, and this seemed to be the moment that it caught on as a popular sound effect.
The stock sound effect has remained in circulation for years, largely due to Ben Burtt, a sound designer with a strange penchant for the scream who has inserted it into many of the projects he has worked on, including various Star Wars films. Why he likes it so much is anyone’s guess, but it seems as though it became an in-joke that he was unable to stop.
