If you’re at least in your mid-30s (give or take it) you probably don’t know, recognize, or feel the voice of Elwood Edwards. He recorded the phrase “You’ve got mail!” And in 1989, there were three other lines for Quantum Computer Services. The company was later renamed America Online, and the rest is early Internet history. Edwards died Tuesday.
WKYC First reported (path: manifold) Edwards passed away one day before his 75th birthday. He worked as a graphic designer, camera operator, and all-rounder off-camera for a Cleveland television station for many years.
His wife, Karen Edwards, was working at Quantum when she heard the company’s then-CEO talk about a need for a voice for software that would soon be bombarding mailboxes across America. “So she volunteered my voice,” Edwards said in the 2012 video. “And I recorded the phrase you learned on a cassette deck in my living room.”
He was paid a total of $200 for his voiceover work.
The new message catchphrase, recorded in Edwards’ calm, welcoming voice, became a cultural phenomenon during AOL’s ’90s and early 2000s heyday. Of course, this included what inspired the title of the 1998 Nora Ephron romantic comedy.
Edwards also contributed three (less known, but still remembered by many) AOL sayings: “Welcome,” “File’s done,” and “Goodbye.” In the 2012 video, he is seen being chased by various employees, who made him say those things. (AOL is now owned by Yahoo, the parent company of Engadget.)
“So, that’s the story behind the catchphrase,” he said in the video. “Well, I’m having some trouble trying to escape.”
