Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1512183
20 M PS E . O R G I'd love to travel to West Virginia, the home of a Wilhelm Scream superfan I've connected with, and internationally to interview foreign directors who have adopted the scream like Dutch director Martin Koolhoven. This level of production will require much more funding, so ideally I will connect with a production studio that can help make this a reality. The big question that has haunted the Wilhelm Scream for decades is the identity of the screamer … and we'll answer that. STEVE: While they were at USC, Ben Burtt, Richard Anderson, and Rick Mitchell were using the scream in their student projects—but they had swiped it from a scene in an old WB movie where it's in the clear. But while Ben was starting his work on the first Star Wars film, he was able to get a hold of the master from Warner Bros. and shared it with his friends. They were the ones that initially nicknamed it the Wilhelm Scream … and they were the first ones to start the infamous tradition. When I started working with Richard, I kind of grabbed the torch and ran with it. ANNA: Much later, around the time of post-production on Revenge of the Sith, Ben had the opportunity to do some more research at the Warner Bros. archives. Ben knew that the scream was originally recorded for Distant Drums, a WB Western made in 1951, but he was curious if there could be documentation on the performers who might have voiced it. He found a document that mentioned the names of the people in the studio the day of the recording, one of them being the beloved cowboy singer, Sheb Wooley. Sheb Wooley had sadly passed away by the time of the discovery, but Steve helped Ben connect with Sheb's widow, who seemed to confirm the probability of Sheb's voice being the scream. STEVE: A dear friend of mine, the late Claes Andreasson, did a piece for NPR about the scream and broke the news. The same moment his interview with me aired, I published the revised list with the new information on my website. That's really when the dam broke. A British reporter, Jack Malvern, interviewed me, and then talked to Sheb's widow. He gave me her information, and I gave it to Ben. I think part of my motivation was trying to make peace with him about letting this whole thing get out of control. They had a very pleasant conversation, and Sheb's widow was Steve checking out the Laurel Canyon Stages F ROM TH E VAU LT O F TH E H O L LY WOO D SOU N D M U S E U M