Elwood Edwards, who voiced America Online’s ever-present “You’ve got mail” greeting, has died. He was 74.
He died Tuesday at his home in New Bern, North Carolina, said his daughter Heather Edwards. The cause was complications from a stroke late last year, she said.
Edwards taped his AOL greeting in 1989 into a recorder while sitting in the living room of his home. “You’ve got mail” became a pop culture catchphrase in the late 1990s and served as the title of the 1998 Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan film.
“He would still blush anytime someone brought it up,” his daughter said. “He loved the attention, but he never got used to it.”
He was also the voice of AOL’s “Welcome,” “Goodbye” and “File’s done” messages. He made $200 from the recordings.
He got the gig while working at an independent TV station in Washington, D.C. His second wife, Karen, was a customer service representative for the internet provider that later became known as AOL. She heard the company was looking for someone to be the voice of its software and suggested her husband.
“They were so impressed, they didn’t have him go in a recording booth,” his daughter said.
While few people knew his face, his voice was heard by millions of people each day.
“For a while, America Online was keeping it a secret, making me a man of mystery. But finally it was released, and there you go,” Edwards said in 1999.
He did appear on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” in 2015 to repeat the famous catchphrase, smiling broadly and chuckling as the studio audience cheered. He also added his voice to an episode of “The Simpsons” in 2000.
Edwards first worked in radio and then moved into television. He had a brief stint as a weatherman and worked as an announcer, but mostly he spent his time behind the camera, Heather Edwards said.
“He would say, ‘I have a face for radio,’” she said, adding that her dad “always had a ready smile anytime you’d see him.”
He later worked at WKYC-TV in Cleveland as a “graphics guru, camera operator, and general jack-of-all-trades,” the station said. Edwards also did freelance voice-over work for radio and television commercials.
Survivors include another daughter, Sallie Edwards; granddaughter Abbie Edwards; and a brother, Bill.
The family plans to hold a memorial service Monday in New Bern.
FILE - AOL's home page is shown on a computer screen, Aug. 4, 2006, in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks coasted to the close of their best week in a year. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% Friday. The index posted its biggest weekly gain since early November 2023, and finished just shy of the 6,000 level. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.1%. The relatively quiet trading followed big gains and more records for indexes earlier in the week after Donald Trump won the presidential election and the Federal Reserve cut interest rates again to make things easier for the economy. Long-term Treasury yields eased in the bond market.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are cruising to the close of their best week in a year on Friday.
The S&P 500 was 0.5% higher in late trading, on track for its biggest weekly gain since early November 2023 and its first-ever finish above the 6,000 level. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 334 points, or 0.8%, with nearly an hour remaining in trading, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% higher.
The relatively quiet trading follows big gains and more records for indexes earlier in the week after Donald Trump won the presidential election and the Federal Reserve cut interest rates again to make things easier for the economy.
Axon Enterprise, which sells Tasers and body cameras used by police officers, helped lead the market. It jumped 30.2% after delivering stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also raised its revenue forecast for the full year to $2.07 billion, which would mean 32% growth.
Expedia Group rose 3.9% after likewise topping profit expectations. It said booked room nights rose 9% from a year earlier.
Helping to keep the market in check was Airbnb, which sank 8.7% after the online vacation rental platform posted a mixed third-quarter earnings report and issued forecasts for the fourth quarter that disappointed investors.
Digital pinboard and shopping site Pinterest slid 15.7% after the company’s revenue guidance came in lower than investors expected, even as it easily beat Wall Street’s sales and profit targets.
In the bond market, longer-term Treasury yields eased.
A preliminary report in the morning suggested sentiment among U.S. consumers rose for a fourth straight month to its highest level in six months. The survey from the University of Michigan, which was conducted before Tuesday's election, also said expectations for inflation in the coming year eased to the lowest level since 2020.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 4.31% from 4.33% late Thursday. But it’s still well above where it was in mid-September, when it was close to 3.60%.
Treasury yields climbed in large part because the U.S. economy has remained much more resilient than feared. The hope is that it can continue to stay solid as the Federal Reserve continues to cut interest rates in order to keep the job market humming, now that it’s helped get inflation nearly down to its 2% target.
Some of the rise in yields has also been because of Trump. He talks up tariffs and other policies that economists say could drive inflation and the U.S. government’s debt higher, along with the economy’s growth.
Traders have already begun paring forecasts for how many cuts to rates the Fed will deliver next year because of that. While lower rates can boost the economy, they can also give inflation more fuel.
In stock markets abroad, Trump’s talk about tariffs has raised worries about possible trade tensions and disruptions to the global economy.
European indexes mostly sank to close out a losing week.
Markets in Hong Kong and Shanghai fell as investors awaited much-anticipated steps by Beijing to rev up the slowing Chinese economy following a meeting of the legislature’s Standing Committee. Officials announced a 6 trillion yuan ($839 billion), three-year plan to help local governments refinance their many trillions of debt that has ballooned during the COVID-19 pandemic and a collapse of the property market.
Financial markets worldwide have swung sharply as investors lay bets on what Trump's plans for higher tariffs, lower tax rates and lighter regulation could mean for the global economy. But many professional investors have also urged caution, saying snaps back in prices could occur as it becomes more clear what proposals will become policy versus just negotiating starting points.
“Our experience is that such narrow reactions have not historically made for durable investment opportunities, and we favor pausing to look more closely at the likely main policy initiatives,” according to Paul Christopher, head of global investment strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
U.S. banks and the stocks of more domestically focused companies have seen some of the wildest moves, as some of the poster children of the “Trump trade.” The stock that’s become most synonymous with the president-elect, Trump Media & Technology Group, rose 15.5% Thursday in its latest sharp swing to wipe out what had been a loss for the week.
AP Writers Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed to this report.
Specialist Mike Pistillo, left and trader Peter Tuchman wear "S&P 6000" hats on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Michael Capolinoi works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A pair of traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Robert Charmak works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader William Lovesick, left, and specialist James Denaro work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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Comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell appear on a bank of screens on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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People stand in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Tokyo Stock Price index at a securities firm Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
