Ben Burtt (born July 12, 1948 in Syracuse, New York) is the archetypal sound designer (a term he invented) and sound editor for many famous and noteworthy films, as well as directing an Oscar-nominated documentary.
Burtt's most memorable work includes creating the "voice" of robot R2-D2 in the Star Wars films, as well as various sound effects like the lightsaber and the speederbike chase sounds from Return of the Jedi. He also worked on the sound effects in the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Burtt also created the haunting breathing sound of Darth Vader by recording his own breathing in an old Dacor scuba regulator.
Burtt created the voices and sounds for the aliens and droids of Star Wars (1977) and the voice of E.T. To come up with Chewbacca's voice, he went to a zoo, but that day did not find what he wanted. Later, at an animal farm, a bear's growls provided the basis for Chewbacca's speech, and Burtt added to that the barks, growls, and whimpers of dogs and lions. He was finally satisfied when he went to Marineland, in California, and recorded a walrus, which was moaning because its pool had been drained for cleaning.
Rediscovered and named the now ubiquitious "Wilhelm scream" sound effect in the Warner Brothers sound archives. To date, it has been used in over 75 films.
His favourite sound is the famous "Arrow" sound from Adventures of Robin Hood, The (1938). He has used it in almost all of the Star Wars films, and almost every other film he has worked on.
Received an honorary doctorate from Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania on May 9, 2004. He was a 1970 graduate of the college, where he majored in physics.
To create the rumbling sound of the gigantic boulder in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), he placed a microphone close to the tire of his Honda Civic as it coasted slowly down his gravel driveway. The recording was later engineered at various speeds to best replicate the rolling boulder.
For Star Wars (1977), he created the sound of the lightsabers by mixing the humming sound of his TV set - tuned between channels - with the sound of an old 35mm projector.
June 2005: Left his long-term job as Lucasfilm to work for the spin-off company, Pixar.
