Computing industry legend Elwood Edwards, the voice of AOL ‘You’ve got mail,’ passes away at 74

It’s the end of an era—on November 5, a day before what would have been his 75th birthday, Elwood Edwards of America Online (AOL)’s “You’ve got mail!” fame died of illness, as reported by his former place of employment, WKYC Studios on WTHR.

While Elwood Edwards was best known for his lineup of AOL quotes, namely “You’ve got mail!”, “Files done,” “Goodbye,” and “Welcome,” he was also active on the radio and in various newsrooms up until his retirement, working on graphics, camera operation, and more. His pay for the original AOL collaboration in 1989 was just $200. Still, in the following decades, that voice role established him in the collective consciousness, leading to subsequent cameos even in TV shows like The Simpsons.

After retiring from news work at Cleveland, Ohio’s WKYC news station, in 2016, Elwood Edwards seemed set to make a living with occasional small business opportunities fueled by his past fame. This included selling personalized voice quotes on his website (a model now commonly mirrored by other voice actors on services like Cameo or Fiverr) and occasional commercial appearances or cameos. He was even spotted doing work as an Uber driver by a Twitter user in 2016.

AOL Dial Up Internet Connection Sound + You’ve Got Mail (America Online) 90’s – YouTube

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His last two major on-screen appearances were in March 2015 on The Tonight Show, starring Jimmy Fallon, and in October 2022, just two years before his death, promoting the e-commerce platform Shopify in a commercial. His Jimmy Fallon appearance was overtly humorous, involving an audience member’s suggestion to have Edwards say different things in his iconic “You’ve got mail!” inflection. His animated Simpsons cameo back in 2000 had him playing a virtual doctor advising a patient, “You’ve got leprosy,” still riffing on his legendary line.

Before his death, Elwood Edwards married twice and had two children with his first wife, Betsy Fulcher. He did not have children with his second…