So, you’re a fan of Alien, and probably, like me, have watched it a-half-a-dozen times or more, and maybe still jump every time that nasty old Xenomorph bursts on screen? It’s something else, isn’t it? But did you know that the sound of the Alien, that high pitched pig squeal grunt, wasn’t created by some kind of Special FX, but by a 70-year-old animal impersonator, ornithologist, and entertainer, called Percy Edwards?

Edwards was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, in 1908, and from a very early age had a fascination for wildlife. This lead to his discovery that he had an uncanny ability to impersonate animals. By the time he was twelve, Edwards’ party trick was to tell short stories interspersed with his imitations of birds and other animals. As he grew-up, this little party piece soon became a career. Edwards was able to imitate over 600 different birds, and dozens of other four-legged friends. He started working for BBC radio in 1930, and was soon in considerable demand, providing the animal sounds for comic Ted Ray’s series Ray’s a Laugh, and then Psyche the Terrier on Life is Bliss. He also enthralled audiences at Music Halls and Variety Theaters across the country.

He also supplied the bird song for Kate Bush’s album The Dreaming, and the voice for such on-screen animals as the frogs in Michael Palin’s Ripping Yarns; whale in the Richard Harris/Charlotte Rampling movie Orca; the incessant buzz of The Killer Bees; most of the animals in Plague Dogs; “Fizzgig” in Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal; and the extraterrestrial in Alien.

I’ve been looking for clips of the famous scene where the Alien bursts out of John Hurt’s chest, as you can clearly hear Edwards’ inspired vocal creation but, alas, every time this clip appears YouTube, THWACK!, Fox has it taken down. Understandable, I suppose, but you can still make out some of his animal sounds in the film’s trailer.

What’s more surprising is how little there is of dear old Percy’s vocals skills available on the Internet. I can still recall watching him on ye olde BBC light entertainment shows, when I was a child, which (if you closed your eyes) was like listening to a whole menagerie of animals delicately taking over the front room.

The clip I did find (shot off some smartphone), only gives a wee sample of the man’s skills as both impersonator and comedy performer. It comes from The Morecambe and Wise Show in 1973, but at least you can now put a face to the voice of the Alien.
 

Percy Edwards as Fizzgig from ‘The Dark Crystal’—with thanks to Trisha Sheeley.
 
Bonus documentary on the making of ‘Alien,’ after the jump…