The Man Whose Voice Is Behind AOL's Iconic "You've Got Mail" Line Has Passed Away

Long before your phone pinged in your pocket to let you know your inbox had a mew email, or your smartwatch buzzed to alert you of a new message, people with AOL accounts relied on one very memorable voice to declare "you've got mail" upon signing on. On Nov. 5, however, the voice behind the "you've got mail" greeting, Elwood Edwards, passed away.

But what happened to the "you've got mail" voice actor? He was many other things, and he worked in television and in the news world for years before his passing. While some might always remember him for his voice work with AOL, Edwards touched other lives in different ways throughout the course of his career.

On Nov. 7, WKYC in Cleveland, Ohio announced that Edwards had passed away. He was 74 years old and, according to the outlet, where he was once a longtime employee, Edwards died from an undisclosed illness that he had battled for a long time. WKYC also shared that Edwards had worked for the station for years.

However, Edwards's most iconic job came from AOL, or American Online, for the uninformed. When Edwards was hired to record a few phrases that would be used for years to come, AOL was just a blip on the internet radar. It later became the go-to email destination before other top email servers broke onto the scene.

Edwards was tasked with saying "you've got mail," "welcome," "file's done," and "goodbye." He was reportedly paid $200 to be recorded reciting those lines. Although Edwards was not a voice actor by any means, he would go on to voice a character in an episode of The Simpsons and he even helped promote the rom-com You've Got Mail.

The days of AOL being the go-to email option for users os long gone, but plenty of people still use AOL as their primary email resource. And you can indeed set your new mail notification to the "you've got mail" phrase said by Edwards himself. Or, you can choose to hear a celebrity utter the words.

There is also the option to use a more generic sound to alert you to a new email in your AOL inbox. That might not be quite the same as hearing Edwards declare that you've got mail, but it's just another option that users get these days instead of the singular sound heard around the world once upon a time.