Scream "the Wilhelm scream"!

The Wilhelm scream is a frequently-used film and television stock sound effect first used in 1951 for the film Distant Drums. he effect gained new popularity (its use often becoming an in-joke) after it was used in Star Wars and many other blockbuster films as well as television programs and video games. he scream is often used when someone is either falling to their death from great height or from an explosion.

The Wilhelm scream has become a well-known cinematic sound cliché, and is claimed to have been used in over 149 films. The sound is named for Private Wilhelm, a character in The Charge at Feather River, a 1953 western where the character is shot with an arrow. This was believed to be the second movie to use the sound effect and its first use from the Warner Brothers stock sound library.

Watch this video on the history of the Wilhelm scream.

Research shows that actor and singer Sheb Wooley, best known for his novelty song "Flying Purple People Eater" in 1958, is likely to have been the voice actor who originally performed the scream.