12 Things You Probably Never Knew About E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
1. E.T.'s Voice Was Created Using Burps, Among Other Things
That E.T. is totally full of gas. No, literally. Sound effects creator Ben Burtt put together E.T.'s unique and peculiar voice by splicing together a number of different recordings, one of which was his USC film professor belching loudly. Burtt recorded a mixture of guttural and unusual noises during his search for the perfect E.T. voice, going as far as recording the noises his wife was making as she slept off a cold.
Other sounds that were thrown into the mix included noises made by raccoons, otters and horses, and even some of Spielberg himself, though the biggest player in creating E.T.'s voice as we came to know it was Pat Welsh. Pat Welsh was a woman living in Marin County whom smoked two packets of cigarettes a day and had a voice that matched her rate of consumption, a voice that Burtt thought was ideal for E.T.
Welsh was convinced to come in and do some voice work for the film, recording all of her parts in nine and a half hours without realising how iconic it would become. Pride in her part was all she had to show for her contribution, as she was paid just $380 for her services, which we can only assume she spent on smokes.
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