If you're at least 30 years old (give or take), you know Elwood Edwards' voice, whether you realize it or not. He recorded the phrase: “You've got mail!” and three other lines for Quantum Computer Services in 1989. That company later changed its name to America Online and the rest is early Internet history. Edwards died Tuesday.
WKYC first reported (through Variety) that Edwards died one day before what would have been his 75th birthday. He spent a long time off-camera at the Cleveland television station, where he worked as a graphic designer, camera operator and specialty clerk.
His wife, Karen Edwards, was working at Quantum when she heard the company's then-CEO talk about the need for a voice for the software that would soon bombard mailboxes across the United States. “So, she offered my voice,” Edwards said in a video from 2012. “And on a cassette recorder in my living room, I recorded the phrases you've come to know.”
He was paid a total of $200 for his voice-over work.
The new message's tagline, recorded in Edwards' calm, welcoming voice, became a cultural phenomenon in AOL's 1990s and early 2000s heyday. Of course, that included inspiring the title of Nora Ephron's 1998 romantic comedy.
Edwards also contributed three AOL sayings (lesser known but still remembered by many): “Welcome,” “The file is ready,” and “Goodbye.” In the 2012 video, he is depicted being harassed by several employees, which led him to say that. (AOL is currently owned by Yahoo, Engadget's parent company.)
“So, that's the story behind the catchphrase,” he said in the clip, “which, well, I have some trouble trying to escape.”
