Voice Of AOL's "You've Got Mail" Dies A Famous Unknown

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Posted by RadioActive
November 8, 2024 9:43 am
#1

His name was Elwood Edwards, but you probably only knew him as the voice that said, "Welcome! You've Got Mail!" on all those old AOL platforms from decades back. 

The story of how Edwards, a jack-of-all-trades TV employee from WKYC-TV in Cleveland, came to be heard all over the world is amazing. He didn't seek the spotlight, but it accidentally found him when his wife - who worked at a computer company - heard that AOL was thinking of adding a greeting to its email program. She volunteered her husband. 

"Edwards recorded the phrases on a cassette deck in his living room. Those four phrases – “Welcome,” “You’ve Got Mail,” “Files done,” and “Goodbye” – would eventually be heard by hundreds of millions of people and become a staple part of the AOL experience..."

“I had no idea it would become what it did, I don’t think anybody did,” Edwards said in a 2019 interview...“Suddenly, AOL took off… I remember standing in line at CompUSA and seeing (stacks of AOL CDs) and thinking, ‘my voice is on every one of those, and nobody has a clue.’"


The "mail' man was 74. 

Elwood Edwards, voice of AOL’s iconic greeting ‘You’ve Got Mail,’ dies at 74

 
Posted by Binson Echorec
November 8, 2024 10:09 am
#2

I must've heard the "Welcome" and "Goodbye" when signing in/out but have no recollection of them. I have no recollection of ever hearing "Files done", nor can I imagine the occasion necessary for triggering that phrase.

"You've Got Mail" is the only one I know I heard.

 
Posted by newsguy1
November 8, 2024 6:29 pm
#3

And then there's Oswald Lawrence, the guy behind the world renouned "Mind The Gap" announcement on the London tube.

 

Last edited by newsguy1 (November 8, 2024 6:29 pm)

 
Posted by betaylored
November 8, 2024 9:24 pm
#4

newsguy1 wrote:

And then there's Oswald Lawrence, the guy behind the world renouned "Mind The Gap" announcement on the London tube.

 

so glad you spoke about Oswald Lawrence too newsguy1, it gave me the opportunity to remember the sad/happy story of his wife and the lengths she went to to hear his voice and honour his memory.
https://youtu.be/ey96gF9LXqU?si=aPVxRksNaUK4qvOD

 
Posted by Shorty Wave
November 9, 2024 9:48 am
#5

I heard a great piece about Elwood Edward’s and I think he handled his fame very well, almost as if he didn’t want to be in the limelight, but did in a way, if that makes sense. It sounds like he had a good life!

Last edited by Shorty Wave (November 9, 2024 9:49 am)

 


 
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