\n<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re at least in your mid-30s (give or take), you know the voice of Elwood Edwards, realize it or not. He recorded the phrase, \u201cYou\u2019ve got mail!\u201d and three other lines for Quantum Computer Services in 1989. That company later rebranded to America Online, and the rest is early internet history. Edwards died on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
WKYC<\/em> first reported<\/a> (via<\/a> Variety<\/em>) that Edwards passed away one day before what would have been his 75th birthday. He was a longtime off-camera presence at the Cleveland TV station, working as a graphic designer, camera operator and jack-of-all-trades employee.<\/p>\n His wife, Karen Edwards, worked at Quantum when she heard the company\u2019s then-CEO talking about needing a voice for the software that would soon bombard mailboxes across the US. \u201cSo, she volunteered my voice,\u201d Edwards said in a 2012 video<\/a>. \u201cAnd on a cassette deck in my living room, I recorded the phrases that you\u2019ve come to know.\u201d<\/p>\n He was paid a grand total of $200 for his voiceover work.<\/p>\n The new-message catchphrase, recorded in Edwards\u2019 calm and welcoming voice, became a cultural phenomenon in AOL\u2019s \u201890s and early 2000s heyday. Of course, that included inspiring the 1998 Nora Ephron rom-com\u2019s title.<\/p>\n Edwards also contributed three (lesser known but still remembered by many) AOL sayings: \u201cWelcome,\u201d \u201cFile\u2019s done\u201d and \u201cGoodbye.\u201d In the 2012 video, he\u2019s depicted getting hounded by various employees, prompting him to say the thing. (AOL is currently owned by Yahoo, Engadget\u2019s parent company.)<\/p>\n \u201cSo, that\u2019s the story behind the catchphrase,\u201d he said in the clip, \u201cwhich, well, I have a certain amount of trouble trying to escape.\u201d<\/p>\n