Sheb with a B.

http://www.hollywoodlostandfound.net/wilhelm/



Many fans of the Wilhelm Scream have long wondered who originally performed the scream. No specific documentation has been found attributing the scream to any one person, but Ben Burtt has been researching the matter.

Between his work on the last "Star Wars" films, he has visited Warner Bros. to gather more information. He discovered a file for "Distant Drums," which contained paperwork that was left over from the picture editor when the film was completed. One of the papers was a short list of names of actors who were scheduled to come in to perform various lines of dialogue for miscellaneous roles in the movie. After reviewing the names and even listening to their voices, one person seemed to be the most likely suspect.

Sheb WooleySheb Wooley was a musician and character actor who appeared in many Westerns - but is probably most famous for the song "Purple People Eater," which in 1958 spent six weeks at Number One and sold 3 million copies.

He played one of the four gunslingers that stalked Gary Cooper in the classic "High Noon" (1953), and starred on the hit TV series "Rawhide" as scout Pete Nolan. He also appeared in "Giant" (1956), "The Outlaw Josey Wales" (1976), "Silverado" (1985) and even the film adaptation of his song "Purple People Eater" (1988).

Sheb played the uncredited role of Private Jessup in "Distant Drums," and was one of the few actors assembled for the recording of additional vocal elements for the film. It is very likely he was asked on the spot to perform other things for the film, including the screams for a man being bitten by an alligator.

Sheb Wooley died of leukemia in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2003. He was 82.

Although there is no way to confirm with him that he performed these special screams, his wife, Linda Dotson-Wooley, said Sheb was fond of saying how talented he was at performing laughs, screams, and dying vocals for films.

After finishing the last "Star Wars" film and beginning work at Pixar, Ben Burtt has announced he will no longer be using the Wilhelm. This is surely an end of an era for the scream, but there is no indication that it will be silenced anytime soon. The Wilhelm Scream continues to be heard in new films every year.

Six weeks at number one. If I'd been around when this was playing on every radio once every hour, I would have done a little screaming of my own.