A Wilhelm Scream

About

The Wilhelm scream is an iconic stock sound effect that originated in the 1951 film Distant Drums, where it was allegedly voiced by actor Sheb Wooley. The sound has since become widely recognized and frequently used in films, television programs and other media. It is commonly heard in scenarios depicting someone being shot, falling from a great height, or being thrown from an explosion. The scream takes its name from Private Wilhelm, a character in the 1953 Western film The Charge at Feather River, in which the character is shot in the thigh with an arrow. Though The Charge at Feather River was the third film to use the effect, it was the first to use it following the sound's inclusion in the Warner Bros. Pictures stock sound library. The Wilhelm scream gained further prominence through its use in all of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films prior to Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm.