Elwood Edwards, who voiced America On-line’s ever-present “You’ve got mail” greeting, has died. He was 74.
He died Tuesday at his house in New Bern, North Carolina, mentioned his daughter Heather Edwards. The trigger was problems from a stroke late final yr, she mentioned.
Edwards taped his AOL greeting in 1989 right into a recorder whereas sitting in the lounge of his house. “You’ve got mail” grew to become a popular culture catchphrase within the late Nineteen Nineties and served because the title of the 1998 Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan movie.
“He would still blush anytime someone brought it up,” his daughter mentioned. “He loved the attention, but he never got used it.”
He was additionally the voice of AOL’s “Welcome,” “Goodbye” and “File’s done” messages. He made $200 from the recordings.
He bought the gig whereas working at an impartial TV station in Washington, D.C. His second spouse, Karen, was a customer support consultant for the web supplier that later grew to become referred to as AOL. She heard the corporate was searching for somebody to be the voice of its software program and steered her husband.
“They were so impressed, they didn’t have him go in a recording booth,” his daughter mentioned.
Whereas few folks knew his face, his voice was heard by thousands and thousands of individuals every day.
“For a while, America Online was keeping it a secret, making me a man of mystery. But finally it was released, and there you go,” Edwards mentioned in 1999.
He did seem on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” in 2015 to repeat the well-known catchphrase, smiling broadly and chuckling because the studio viewers cheered. He additionally added his voice to an episode of “The Simpsons” in 2000.
Edwards first labored in radio after which moved into tv. He had a short stint as a weatherman and labored as an announcer, however largely he spent his time behind the digicam, Heather Edwards mentioned.
“He would say, ‘I have a face for radio,’” she mentioned, including that her dad “always had a ready smile anytime you’d see him.”
He later labored at WKYC-TV in Cleveland as a “graphics guru, camera operator, and general jack-of-all-trades,” the station mentioned. Edwards additionally did freelance voice-over work for radio and tv commercials.
Survivors embrace one other daughter, Sallie Edwards; granddaughter Abbie Edwards; and a brother, Invoice.
The household plans to carry a memorial service Monday in New Bern.
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