Elwood Edwards Explained

Elwood Edwards
Birth Date:6 November 1949
Birth Place:New Bern, North Carolina, U.S.
Known For:Voice talent for AOL

Elwood Edwards (born November 6, 1949) is an American voice actor. He is best known as the voice of the Internet service provider America Online, which he first recorded in 1989.[1] [2]

Career

Edwards started in radio while in high school. After high school he continued into television, working as a live booth announcer. Despite some on-air work, doing a car commercial, reporting news or sports and a short stint as a weatherman, Edwards focused mainly on off-camera work.

In 1989, Edwards' wife overheard online service Q-Link CEO Steve Case describe how he wanted to add a voice to its user interface. In October, Edwards' voice premiered on AOL's new program. His greetings include "Welcome", "You've got mail", "You've got pictures", "You've got voicemail", "File's done", and "Goodbye", all recorded in his own living room on a cassette deck.[3] The voice is only heard in the American version of the software. In the UK version, a female voice (British actress Joanna Lumley) is heard replacing "Welcome" with "Welcome to AOL" and "You've got mail" with "You have e-mail" Also, "File's done" is replaced with "Your files have been transferred".

His voice has also appeared in a 2000 episode of The Simpsons, "Little Big Mom" (where he provided the voice of a virtual doctor, saying "You've got leprosy"), and in advertising for the movie You've Got Mail.

Now retired, he used to sell personalized .wav files through his website.[4]

On the March 4, 2015, episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Edwards appeared on screen to read phrases which were meant to be humorous.[5] As of November 2016, Edwards was seen on Instagram and YouTube working as an Uber driver.[6] On September 16, 2019, Edwards and his AOL story were featured on the podcast Twenty Thousand Hertz in an episode entitled "You've Got Mail".[7] [8] [9]

In October 2022, Edwards appeared in a television ad for the e-commerce platform Shopify, in which he announced "You've got sales" to sellers on the platform.[10]

Other jobs

Notes and References

  1. Web site: He's the Voice of the Net Generation. Sittenfeld. Curtis. September 30, 1998. Fast Company. en-US. June 29, 2016.
  2. December 2009. Where Are They Now? Elwood Edwards. Cleveland Magazine.
  3. Web site: 'You've got mail' guy: I recorded phrase on a cassette in my living. Kim. Eun Kyung . . March 27, 2014 . June 29, 2016.
  4. Web site: Home page of El Edwards, the Voice of "You've got mail" . 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080613203307/http://www.makinwavs.com/ . June 13, 2008 .
  5. Web site: Watch The 'You've Got Mail' Guy Read Ridiculous One-Liners on 'Fallon'. Above Average. June 29, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160816114631/https://aboveaverage.com/watch-the-youve-got-mail-guy-read-ridiculous-one-liners-on-fallon/ . August 16, 2016.
  6. Raisa . Bruner . This Woman Got an Uber Ride from the Voice Behind AOL's Iconic 'You've Got Mail' Message . . November 8, 2016 . November 8, 2016.
  7. Web site: You've Got Mail. September 16, 2019 .
  8. Web site: Twenty Thousand Hertz – You've Got Mail! On Stitcher.
  9. Web site: Twenty Thousand Hertz on Apple Podcasts. August 9, 2023 .
  10. Web site: Zafarris . Jess . Lepitak . Stephen . 2022-10-14 . Marketing Morsels: 'You've Got Mail' AOL Guy Is Back . 2022-10-16 . Adweek . en-US.
  11. News: Ryan C. . Haidet . Meet the local voice of AOL's 'You've Got Mail' . WKYC . March 27, 2014 . April 4, 2014 .
  12. News: Farokhmanesh . Megan . November 7, 2016 . The voice of AOL's iconic 'you've got mail' has a side gig driving Ubers . . February 10, 2023.

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