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Ben Burtt
Ben Burtt Celebration Europe II.jpg
Burtt at Star Wars Celebration Europe II in Essen, Germany in 2013
Born
Benjamin Burtt Jr.

(1948-07-12) July 12, 1948 (age 77)
Jamesville, New York, U.S.
Education Allegheny College
Alma mater University of Southern California
Occupation
Years active 1975–present
Children Benjamin A. Burtt
Awards
  • Doctor of Arts
  • Charles S. Swartz Award
  • Academy Award

Ben Burtt (born July 12, 1948) is a super talented American sound designer, film director, and voice actor. He's like a wizard with sounds, creating many of the famous noises you hear in movies. He's worked on huge film series like Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

Ben Burtt is famous for making the sounds for Star Wars, including the beeps of R2-D2, the hum of a lightsaber, and the heavy breathing of Darth Vader. He also created the language for the Ewoks, called Ewokese! He even made the voice for the robot WALL-E in the Pixar movie. Ben Burtt has won four Academy Awards for his amazing work. He has also directed many documentary films and edited parts of the Star Wars prequel movies.

Ben Burtt's Early Life

Ben Burtt was born in Jamesville, New York, on July 12, 1948. His dad was a chemistry professor, and his mom was a child psychologist. When he was a kid, Ben loved making his own films. Later, he studied physics at Allegheny College and graduated in 1970.

Ben Burtt's Career Journey

Starting Out in Film

While in college, Ben Burtt kept making films. In 1970, he won a big award at the National Student Film Festival for his war movie called Yankee Squadron. He had learned a lot about aviation dramas, which helped him make this film. He even made an amateur film at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, a cool museum with old airplanes.

After that, he won a scholarship to the University of Southern California. There, he earned a master's degree in film production. This helped him learn even more about making movies.

Becoming a Sound Designer

Ben Burtt changed the way sounds were made for movies, especially for sci-fi and fantasy films. Before him, futuristic sounds were often just electronic beeps. But Ben wanted sounds to feel more real and natural. He would mix "found sounds" – everyday noises – to create amazing effects.

For example, the famous lightsaber hum in Star Wars came from a film projector mixed with a broken television set! The sound of a blaster gun was made by hitting a guy-wire on a radio tower with a hammer.

In the Star Wars movies, some of R2-D2's beeps and whistles are actually Ben Burtt's own voice, mixed with sounds from a special music machine called an ARP 2600 synthesizer. He also made the squawks of the tiny holographic monsters on the Millennium Falcon. In Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), Ben Burtt even provided the voice for a character named Lushros Dofine. The heavy breathing of Darth Vader was created by recording Ben Burtt breathing through an old Dacor scuba regulator.

Ben Burtt also found the voice for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial from an elderly lady he met in a photography shop. Her voice was very low because she smoked a lot. He also created the "voice" for the main robot character and other robots in Pixar's movie WALL-E (2008). Plus, he was in charge of the sound effects for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008).

Ben Burtt is known for including a specific sound effect called "the Wilhelm scream" in many of the movies he works on. This scream comes from an old movie called The Charge at Feather River. You can hear it in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope when a stormtrooper falls, and in Raiders of the Lost Ark when a soldier falls from a car. It's a fun inside joke for movie fans!

Director, Editor, and Writer

Ben Burtt has directed several IMAX documentary films, which are big movies shown on huge screens. These include Blue Planet and Special Effects: Anything Can Happen, which was even nominated for an Oscar.

He also worked as an editor for the entire Star Wars prequel trilogy (Episodes I, II, and III). He edited many episodes of the TV show The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Ben Burtt also wrote some episodes for the 1980s Star Wars cartoon called Droids.

Cameo Appearances in Films

Ben Burtt has even appeared as an extra in two Star Wars movies! In Return of the Jedi, he played Colonel Dyer, an Imperial officer. When his character falls off a balcony, the scream you hear is Ben Burtt himself imitating the famous Wilhelm scream! In Episode I – The Phantom Menace, he appears in the background as a character named Ebenn Q3 Baobab.

Ben Burtt's Filmography Highlights

Ben Burtt has worked on many films and TV shows, often as a sound designer or editor. Here are some of his most well-known projects:

Ben Burtt's Awards

Ben Burtt has received many awards for his incredible work in film.

Academy Awards

He has won four Academy Awards, which are also known as the Oscars:

He was also nominated for many other Academy Awards, including for WALL-E, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, and Return of the Jedi.

Other Honors

  • In 2004, he received an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from Allegheny College.
  • The Hollywood Post Alliance gave him the Charles S. Swartz Award for his amazing contributions to film post-production (everything that happens after filming).
  • In 2024, Ben Burtt was honored with the Vision Award Ticinomoda at the 77th Locarno Film Festival.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Ben Burtt para niños

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