Gaetano Mazzaglia dei Conti Cutelli was born in Sicily,[4] and grew up on his father's estate near Mount Etna.

His first contact in the film world was with the manager of Gloria Swanson, who had heard Cutelli's impressions during his early radio work.

[5][10] From these skills, he earned the nickname "The Big Noise", and began to invent various mechanical devices for the replication of similar sounds for radio and film.

[10] Another role that Cutelli did was providing the additional lines for Porky Pig after his original voice actor Joe Dougherty could not control his stuttering issues.

[13] After his death, The Berlin Anthropological Institute offered $2,000 to purchase Cutelli's head so that it could be studied for his sound effects ability.