Ben Burtt

Ben Burtt
Burtt at Star Wars Celebration Europe II in Essen, Germany in 2013
Born	Benjamin Burtt Jr. (1948-07-12) July 12, 1948 (age 75) Jamesville, New York, U.S.
Education	Allegheny College
Alma mater	University of Southern California
Occupations	Sound designer film director film editor screenwriter voice actor
Years active	1975–present
Children	Benjamin A. Burtt
Awards	Doctor of Arts Charles S. Swartz Award Academy Award

Benjamin Burtt Jr. (born July 12, 1948) is an American sound designer, film director, film editor, screenwriter, and voice actor. As a sound designer, his credits include the Star Wars and Indiana Jones film series, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), WALL-E (2008), and Star Trek (2009).

Burtt is notable for popularizing the Wilhelm scream in-joke and creating many of the iconic sound effects heard in the Star Wars film franchise, including the 'voice' of R2-D2, the lightsaber hum, the sound of the blaster guns, the heavy-breathing sound of Darth Vader and creating the Ewoks’ language, Ewokese. Burtt was also the sound editor for WALL-E and performed the vocalizations of the titular character as well as other robots in the film.

Burtt has won four Academy Awards, two of which are Special Achievement Academy Awards. He has also directed numerous documentary films for IMAX and most notably the television series Young Indiana Jones on the episode "Attack of the Hawkmen." He also served as the editor on multiple episodes of the show and the Star Wars prequel trilogy.