Edd Gould

Edward Duncan Ernest Gould (28 October 1988 – 25 March 2012) was a British animator, artist, and voice actor. He was best known for creating Eddsworld, a media franchise consisting of flash animations and web comics featuring fictionalised versions of himself and longtime collaborators Tom Ridgewell, Matt Hargreaves, Tord Larsson and others. After Gould's death in 2012, production of Eddsworld was passed on to Ridgewell and after Ridgewell's departure from Eddsworld in 2016 it was passed to Hargreaves and Gould's family.

Early life
Edd Gould was born on 28 October 1988 in Isleworth, Greater London to Susan Gould and Duncan Gould. He had a sister Victoria "Vicky" and a brother George. He attended the Orleans Park School as depicted in his first Newgrounds entry "Edd", and met Matt Hargreaves during a sports day event, who was then transferred into his class. Gould would often incorporate his friends into his comics, and Hargreaves became a prominent part of Eddsworld.

Gould met Tom Ridgewell, a fan of his work, online shortly after he started making animations involving stick figures. He likewise met Tord Larsson, a Norwegian artist, online. Ridgewell and Larsson were included in the Eddsworld cast along with Hargreaves, appearing in the animated entry Eddsworld Christmas Special 2004.

Career
In 2000, Gould began animating using a GIF program to publish his works on Stick Figure Death Theatre. When the website stopped accepting GIFs, he spent seven months learning how to use Macromedia Flash, with help from tutorials by animator Lavalle Lee. Gould published his first animation on Stick Figure Death Theatre or Stick Suicide called “Bendee 1” on 7 November 2002. Gould made his first Newgrounds entry on 6 June 2003, titled "Edd."

In September 2008, Gould began studying as an independent animator at the University for the Creative Arts in Maidstone, moving into student accommodation with his childhood friend Hargreaves. He joined Cake Bomb, a creative media group founded by Ridgewell. He voiced the "I Like Trains" kid in TomSka's asdfmovie series on YouTube, and animated the second episode of asdfmovie.

Gould's YouTube channel saw a spike in popularity during the late 2000s and early 2010s, which led to numerous collaborations and business opportunities. He and Ridgewell were requested to produce an episode of Eddsworld promoting climate change awareness, for the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. In 2010, Gould was commissioned to animate a short voiced by British double act Mitchell and Webb titled "Almeratron" for the BBC Comedy website. Gould also received a multitude of offers to work in television or adapt Eddsworld into a TV series, which he would decline in favor of internet production.

Illness and death
On 16 April 2011, Gould revealed he had been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, a cancer of the white blood cells. It was his second diagnosis, having been previously diagnosed with the same illness on 30 January 2006. He posted a video on YouTube entitled "Edd vs Cancer" featuring himself, Ridgewell, and Hargreaves discussing the diagnosis. He platformed his illness for several sketches on his friends' YouTube accounts, and continued to animate Eddsworld while he was physically able.

Gould died from a recurring infection caused by the cancer on the morning of 25 March 2012. He was 23 years old. Ridgewell and Hargreaves announced Gould's death in a short video, "RIP Edd Gould (1988–2012)", two days later. The funeral was held on 10 April at All Saints' Church in Isleworth, where a eulogy compiled from video clips from fans and friends was shown.

The last episode he directed for Eddsworld, "Space Face (Part 1)", was released posthumously to YouTube on 2 June 2012. Production of Eddsworld passed to Ridgewell who continued to produce episodes as part of Gould's will until his departure from Eddsworld in 2016 passing it onto Hargreaves and Gould's family. Under Ridgewell's direction, profits went to CLIC Sargent (now Young Lives vs Cancer), a UK cancer charity supporting children, young people and their families.

Gould was cremated and buried at Mortlake Crematorium. In June 2012, Hargreaves and Ridgewell attended VidCon in Los Angeles and scattered some of Gould's ashes near the Hollywood Sign.