ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Some of the greatest and most enduring quotes of all time are just three words long. Think Shakespeare's et tu, Brute? Or Nike's just do it.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
And, of course, who could forget...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ELWOOD EDWARDS: (As AOL email voice) You've got mail.
SUMMERS: It is difficult to imagine in an era of smartwatches and push alerts, but for '90s kids like me, those three words - they held incredible power.
SHAPIRO: As we waited for the dial-up internet tone to gurgle and spin...
(SOUNDBITE OF DIAL-UP INTERNET TONE)
SHAPIRO: ...Those three little words...
EDWARDS: (As AOL email voice) You've got mail.
SHAPIRO: ...Meant that a note from a friend, a distant relative, a boyfriend or a girlfriend, was now being delivered electronically, by way of the nascent America Online email service.
SUMMERS: Well, the man who uttered those words, Elwood Edwards, died this week at his home in North Carolina. He was 74.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
EDWARDS: Hi. I'm Elwood Edwards.
SUMMERS: In 2012, Edwards recorded a video about the origins of his now famous catchphrase.
SHAPIRO: His wife, who worked at Quantum Computing Services, which later became AOL, overheard executives talking about needing a voice for one of its products.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
EDWARDS: So she volunteered my voice, and on a cassette deck in my living room, I recorded the phrases that you've come to know - Welcome. You've got mail. File's done. Goodbye - and what started off as a test has continued to this day.
SUMMERS: It was 1989, and Edwards was paid 200 bucks for the recording, which at one point he estimated was heard more than 35 million times a day.
SHAPIRO: Fortunately, Edwards had other means of income. He had a long career that spanned AM r44adio, local news and commercial voiceover work.
SUMMERS: But his era-defining mantra took on a life of its own, with Edwards and the phrase, you've got mail, popping up everywhere, from "The Simpsons"...
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE SIMPSONS")
EDWARDS: (As Virtual Doctor) Welcome to Virtual Doctor.
YEARDLEY SMITH: (As Lisa Simpson) Crusty sores?
DAN CASTELLANETA: (As Homer Simpson) Yes.
SMITH: (As Lisa Simpson) Horrible wailing?
CASTELLANETA: (As Homer Simpson) Yes. Yes.
SMITH: (As Lisa Simpson) Any exposure to unsanitary conditions?
NANCY CARTWRIGHT: (As Bart Simpson) Duh, we're pigs.
SMITH: (As Lisa Simpson) OK, and diagnose.
EDWARDS: (As Virtual Doctor) You've got leprosy.
DAN CASTELLANETA AND NANCY CARTWRIGHT: (As Homer Simpson and Bart Simpson) Leprosy?
SUMMERS: He also popped up on "The Tonight Show."
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE TONIGHT SHOW")
JIMMY FALLON: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the actual guy who recorded the you've got mail sound for AOL. Elwood Edwards, everybody.
(CHEERING)
EDWARDS: Welcome. You've got mail.
(CHEERING)
SHAPIRO: And, of course, that famous phrase reunited Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, lending both plot point and title to a 1998 rom-com.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "YOU'VE GOT MAIL")
MEG RYAN: (As Kathleen Kelly) I turn on my computer...
(SOUNDBITE OF ELECTRONIC BEEPING)
RYAN: (As Kathleen Kelly) ...I go online...
EDWARDS: (As AOL email voice) Welcome.
RYAN: (As Kathleen Kelly) ...And my breath catches in my chest until I hear three little words.
EDWARDS: (As AOL email voice) You've got mail.
RYAN: (As Kathleen Kelly) You've got mail.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PLEASE MR. POSTMAN")
THE MARVELETTES: (Singing) Oh, yes, wait a minute, Mr. Postman.
SUMMERS: So to Elwood Edwards, whose voice has spanned generations, we've got three more words for you, rest in peace.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PLEASE MR. POSTMAN")
THE MARVELETTES: (Singing) Oh, yeah. Is there a letter in your bag for me? Please, please, Mr. Postman. I've been waiting such a long time. Oh, yeah. Since I heard from this boyfriend of mine. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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