W is For: Wilhelm: By The Numbers

I know some of you will be familiar with that term, but for those of you who aren't, a brief explanation seems in order. The Wilhelm Scream, is one of the most famous stock sound effects in movie history. It's been used in hundreds of films, TV shows and video games. It's named after a character in the first movie it was used for (Distant Drums 1951). For a long while it's been somewhat of an in-joke between sound editors. Ben Burt, who did the sound for all the Indiana Jones and Star Wars films included it in each one. At any rate, when it was suggested that I run the numbers, not on the actor who created it, but the scream itself, well, how could I resist?

First a quick rundown of how this all works for anyone new:

I take all the films an actor or actress has been in and break them down into three categories, 'Good' 'Bad' and 'Okay.' I do not count TV appearances or Made for TV movies. Afterwards a quick analysis will show whether or not they're a good actor by the numbers. Invariably there is a 2-3 +/- point bias on a person to person basis. Also, since 'ok' movies are not bad they count towards the positive column in the overall figuring. If, by the numbers, they fall in the 50 - 60% range, they're a bad actor; 61 - 70% good actor, and 71 - 80% great actor. Anything higher is unlikely, but will be classified as "elite."

I scream, you scream, we all scream for the numbers:

It's not really known for sure who recorded the famous scream as it was a stock sound recorded after the movie, but it is generally thought to be Sheb Wooley (Purple People Eater) who as it happens, was one of the actors that came in to record screams and other sounds on the film. Regardless of who it was, you can see by the numbers that it's done well for itself. At 67% positive over 33% negative, it's officially a good actor. Not bad for a career made out of one line. I should also note that as there really isn't any way of knowing officially how many movies the effect has been used in, the numbers could slide one way or the other. 

Since this was a particularly challenging one, I'd like to give a special thanks (evil glare) to Reputation@Stake who suggested this madness (thought I forgot about it didn't you?)

And now just for the heck of it, the scream: