The Wilhelm scream is a stock sound effect that has been used in more than four hundred movies, TV shows, video games, and commercials, beginning in 1951 for the film Distant Drums. The scream is often used when someone was shot, fell from a great height, or was thrown from an explosion.
Voiced by actor and singer Sheb Wooley, the sound is named after Private Wilhelm, a character in The Charge at Feather River, a 1953 western in which the character is shot with an arrow. This was believed to be the third movie to use the sound effect and its first use from the Warner Bros. stock sound library.
The effect gained new popularity (its use often becoming an in-joke) after it was used in the Star Wars saga, the Indiana Jones series, Disney cartoons, and many other blockbuster films as well as television programs and video games.
The following Star Trek media includes the Wilhelm scream:
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture – When V'ger fires at the USS Enterprise, a crew member in the engine room gets hit by an energy bolt (Director's Edition, 2001 only) (4th scream)
- Star Trek Beyond – When a security crew member of the USS Enterprise was thrown over the railing by one of Krall's soldiers. (4th scream)
- Star Trek Adventure – A Security crew member screams when Kirk and everyone gets shot during the "bridge tilt" of the Enterprise. (4th scream)