...and no I am not talking about the cool Howard Deam scream.

The WILHELM Scream: A Hollywood Legend

What started as a sound effect for the 1951 Warner Brothers film "Distant Drums", directed by Raoul Walsh starred Gary Cooper as Captain Quincy Wyatt, has become a screaming legend in Hollywood.

This Warner Brothers sound effect was used in many films and even television from the 1950s up to present day, and borrows and used by many different studios.

It can be heard in the Star Wars films and countless other major motion pictures. Here is a video showing the scream in a few of the movies.

Ben Burtt hired to create sound effects for Star Wars (1977), he had an opportunity to do research at the sound departments of several movie studios. While looking for sound elements to use, he found the original "Distant Drums" scream - which he named "Wilhelm" after the character that let out the scream in "Charge at Feather River."

He used the scream as a kind of personal sound signature, and included it in all the "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" films, and many of the other films he has worked on including "More American Graffiti" (1979) and "Willow" (1988).

After learning the significance of the scream while it was being put into "Reservoir Dogs" (1992), Quentin Tarantino called a break from its mix so that he and his sound crew could crowd into a nearby room with a small TV to watch "Distant Drums" on a local station to hear the scream. Later Wilhelm appeared in his film "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" (2003) as well.

When Peter Jackson was told the history of the Wilhelm during its use in "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" (2002), he was so excited he had its volume raised - and insisted that it also be included in "Return of the King" (2003).

wikipedia.org - List of movies that use the scream.