Elwood Edwards, who coined America Online’s timeless “You’ve got mail” greeting, has died. He was 74 years old.
He died Tuesday at his home in New Bern, North Carolina, his daughter Heather Edwards said. The cause was complications from a stroke late last year, he said.
Edwards recorded his AOL greeting in 1989 on a tape recorder while sitting in the living room of his home. “You’ve got mail” became a pop culture catchphrase in the late 1990s and was the title of the 1998 Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan film.
“He would still blush every time someone brought it up,” the daughter said. “He loved the attention, but it was never used.”
He was also the voice of AOL’s “Welcome”, “Goodbye” and “File’s done” messages. He earned $200 from the recordings.
He got the gig while working at an independent television station in Washington, DC. His second wife, Karen, was a customer service representative for the Internet provider that later became known as AOL. She heard that the company was looking for someone to be the voice of its software and suggested it to her husband.
“They were so shocked, they didn’t go to a recording booth,” the daughter said.
Few people knew his face, his voice was heard by millions of people every day.
“For a while, America Online kept it a secret, making it a man of mystery. But eventually it was released, and lo and behold,” Edwards said in 1999.
In 2015, he appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” to repeat the famous line, smiling widely as the studio audience cheered. In 2000 he also added his voice to an episode of “The Simpsons”.
Edwards first worked in radio and then moved to television. He had a brief stint as a weatherman and worked as an announcer, but mostly spent his time behind the camera, Heather Edwards said.
“He used to say, ‘I’ve got a radio face,'” she said, adding that her father “always had a ready smile whenever you saw him.”
He later worked at WKYC-TV in Cleveland as a “graphics guru, camera operator and all-rounder,” the station said. Edwards also did freelance voiceover work for radio and television commercials.
Survivors include another daughter, Sallie Edwards; granddaughter Abbie Edwards; and a brother, Bill.
The family plans to hold a memorial service Monday in New Bern.
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