TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at home

[tone-master21]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obit_billy_mays

TAMPA, Fla. – Billy Mays, the burly, bearded television pitchman known for his boisterous hawking of products such as Orange Glo and OxiClean, has died. He was 50.

Tampa police said Mays was found unresponsive by his wife Sunday morning. A fire rescue crew pronounced him dead at 7:45 a.m.

There were no signs of a break-in, and investigators do not suspect foul play, said Lt. Brian Dugan of the Tampa Police Department, who wouldn't answer any more questions about how Mays' body was found because of the ongoing investigation. The coroner's office expects to have an autopsy done by Monday afternoon.

"Although Billy lived a public life, we don't anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days," said Mays' wife, Deborah. "Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times."

Born William Mays in McKees Rocks, Pa., on July 20, 1958, Mays developed his style demonstrating knives, mops and other "as seen on TV" gadgets on Atlantic City's boardwalk. For years he worked as a hired gun on the state fair and home show circuits, attracting crowds with his booming voice and genial manner.

After meeting Orange Glo International founder Max Appel at a home show in Pittsburgh in the mid-1990s, Mays was recruited to demonstrate the environmentally friendly line of cleaning products on the St. Petersburg-based Home Shopping Network.

Commercials and informercials followed, anchored by the high-energy Mays showing how it's done while tossing out kitschy phrases like, "Long live your laundry!"

Recently he's been seen on commercials for a wide variety of products and is featured on the reality TV show "Pitchmen" on the Discovery Channel, which follows Mays and Anthony Sullivan in their marketing jobs. He's also been seen in ESPN ads.

His ubiquitousness and thumbs-up, in-your-face pitches won Mays plenty of fans. People line up at his personal appearances for autographed color glossies, and strangers stop him in airports to chat about the products.

"I enjoy what I do," Mays told The Associated Press in a 2002 interview. "I think it shows."

Mays liked to tell the story of giving bottles of OxiClean to the 300 guests at his wedding, and doing his ad spiel ("powered by the air we breathe!") on the dance floor at the reception. Visitors to his house typically got bottles of cleaner and housekeeping tips.

Discovery Channel spokeswoman Elizabeth Hillman released a statement Sunday extending sympathy to the Mays family.

"Everyone that knows him was aware of his larger-than-life personality, generosity and warmth," Hillman's statement said. "Billy was a pioneer in his field and helped many people fulfill their dreams. He will be greatly missed as a loyal and compassionate friend."

[Mars-Chan]

....

I have no words to say. Really. :o

RIP, Billy

[Hannah]

God damn it.

[PAAATE]

WTF!?

He seemed like a real nice guy when he was a guest on Tonight Show and that was so recently... Even though I'd never heard of him before that, he still made a very good impression on me

This is sad...

[Jester]

Yikes....can this week be more death filled?

[ToTheNines]

Yikes....can this week be more death filled?

You could die.




Just sayin.

[Aelia]

My god, they're dropping like flies.

I'm not sure what else to say here, other than that I have a tremendous respect for Billy Mays. He enjoyed what he did and did it with genuine zest. He was fun to watch, in both infomercials and his live appearances.

RIP Billy, you were awesome in my book.

[Mr. Snackpants]

This sucks. I enjoyed his infomercials and his show on Discovery. He was a big target for jokes and parodies, but he seemed like a genuinely great guy on Conan the other night. Now there's just that ShamWow douche.

I must be in the minority when I say this is the only celebrity dead that affected me in any way this week.

[That Matt Guy]

F**k!!!!!!

[Buslady]

What a way to go too...

Poor guy...he was cool. The best in his business.

[Katie]

Here's CNN's report. looks like another case of I got hit in the head and felt ok....but then...


Just like Liam Nieson's wife




CNN) -- Infomercial pitchman Billy Mays died at his Tampa, Florida, home Sunday morning, authorities told CNN.


OxiClean pitchman Billy Mays died Sunday morning at his home in Tampa, authorities said.

The 50-year-old known for his shouting OxiClean ads was pronounced dead at 7:45 a.m. The Hillsborough County medical examiner will perform an autopsy, Tampa police Lt. Brian Dugan said.

Mays was on the US Airways flight from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Tampa on Saturday that had a hard landing at Tampa International Airport when the plane's front tire blew out. There were no reported injuries on Flight 1241, US Airways told CNN.

According to a local Tampa TV station, Mays said: "All of a sudden as we hit you know it was just the hardest hit, all the things from the ceiling started dropping. It hit me on the head, but I got a hard head."


"We were very sad to learn of Billy Mays' passing and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family," Olson said. Tampa officials say the Medical Examiner's Office expects to complete an autopsy by Monday afternoon. In a statement, Deborah Mays said that although "Billy lived a public life," the family does not plan immediate public statements about his death.

Mays was a spokesman for Orange Glo and detergent OxiClean and appeared in commercials for other products.


He is featured on the reality TV show ''Pitchmen'' on the Discovery Channel, which follows pitch people in their jobs.

"It is with incredible sadness that we have to report that Billy Mays died in his sleep last night," said a statement from the Discovery Channel. "Everyone that knows him was aware of his larger-than-life personality, generosity and warmth. Billy was a pioneer in his field and helped many people fulfill their dreams. He will be greatly missed as a loyal and compassionate friend. Our deepest sympathies go out to his family at this time of incredible loss."

[Leonardo Mystic]

Here's a more detailed article, source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBIT_BILLY_MAYS?SITE=CALAK&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

A plausible cause of death is mentioned, although it is quoted in the article as "purely speculation".


TV Pitchman Billy Mays Found Dead at Fla. Home

By MITCH STACY
Associated Press Writer


TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Billy Mays, the burly, bearded television pitchman whose boisterous hawking of products such as Orange Glo and OxiClean made him a pop-culture icon, has died. He was 50.

Tampa police said Mays' wife found him unresponsive Sunday morning. A fire rescue crew pronounced him dead at 7:45 a.m. It was not immediately clear how he died. He said he was hit on the head when an airplane he was on made a rough landing Saturday, and his wife, Deborah Mays, told investigators he didn't feel well before he went to bed about 10 p.m. that night.

There were no signs of a break-in at the home, and investigators do not suspect foul play, said Lt. Brian Dugan of the Tampa Police Department, who wouldn't answer questions about how Mays' body was found because of the ongoing investigation. The coroner's office expects to have an autopsy done by Monday afternoon.

"Although Billy lived a public life, we don't anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days," Deborah Mays said in a statement Sunday. "Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times."

U.S. Airways confirmed that Mays was among the passengers on a flight that made a rough landing on Saturday afternoon at Tampa International Airport, leaving debris on the runway after apparently blowing its front tires.

Tampa Bay's Fox television affiliate interviewed Mays afterward.

"All of a sudden as we hit you know it was just the hardest hit, all the things from the ceiling started dropping," MyFox Tampa Bay quoted him as saying. "It hit me on the head, but I got a hard head."

Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said linking Mays' death to the landing would "purely be speculation." She said Mays' family members didn't report any health issues with the pitchman, but said he was due to have hip replacement surgery in the coming weeks.

Laura Brown, spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said she did not know if Mays was wearing his seat belt on the flight because the FAA is not investigating his death.

U.S. Airways spokesman Jim Olson said there were no reports of serious injury due to the landing.

"If local authorities have any questions for us about yesterday's flight, we'll cooperate fully with them," he said.

Born William Mays in McKees Rocks, Pa., on July 20, 1958, Mays developed his style demonstrating knives, mops and other "As Seen on TV" gadgets on Atlantic City's boardwalk. For years he worked as a hired gun on the state fair and home show circuits, attracting crowds with his booming voice and genial manner.

AJ Khubani, founder and CEO of "As Seen on TV," said he first met Mays in the early 1990s when Mays was still pitching one of his early products, the Shammy absorbent cloth, at a trade fair. He said he most recently worked with Mays on the reality TV show "Pitchmen" on the Discovery Channel, which follows Mays and Anthony Sullivan in their marketing jobs.

"His innovative role and impact on the growth and wide acceptance of direct response television cannot be overestimated or easily replaced; he was truly one of a kind," Khubani said of Mays in a statement.

After meeting Orange Glo International founder Max Appel at a home show in Pittsburgh in the mid-1990s, Mays was recruited to demonstrate the environmentally friendly line of cleaning products on the St. Petersburg-based Home Shopping Network.

Commercials and informercials followed, anchored by the high-energy Mays showing how it's done while tossing out kitschy phrases like, "Long live your laundry!"

Sarah Ellerstein worked closely with Mays when she was a buyer for the Home Shopping Network in the 1990s and he was pitching Orange Glo products.

"Billy was such a sweet guy, very lovable, very nice, always smiling, just a great, great guy," she said, adding that Mays met his future wife at the network. "Everybody thinks because he's loud and boisterous on the air that that's the way he is, but I always found him to be a quiet, down-to-earth person."

His ubiquitousness and thumbs-up, in-your-face pitches won Mays plenty of fans for his commercials on a wide variety of products. People lined up at his personal appearances for autographed color glossies, and strangers stopped him in airports to chat about the products.

"I enjoy what I do," Mays told The Associated Press in a 2002 interview. "I think it shows."

Mays liked to tell the story of giving bottles of OxiClean to the 300 guests at his wedding, and doing his ad spiel ("powered by the air we breathe!") on the dance floor at the reception. Visitors to his house typically got bottles of cleaner and housekeeping tips.

As part of "Pitchmen," Mays and Sullivan showed viewers new gadgets such as the Impact Gel shoe insert; the Tool Band-it, a magnetized armband that holds tools; and the Soft Buns portable seat cushion.

"One of the things that we hope to do with 'Pitchmen' is to give people an appreciation of what we do," Mays told The Tampa Tribune in an April interview. "I don't take on a product unless I believe in it. I use everything that I sell."

His former wife, Dolores "Dee Dee" Mays, of McKees Rocks, Pa., recalled that the first product he sold was the Wash-matik, a device for pumping water from a bucket to wash cars.

"I knew him since he was 15, and I always knew he had it in him," she said of Mays' success. "He'll live on forever because he always had the biggest heart in the world. He loved his friends and family and would do anything for them. He was a generous soul and a great father."

Edit: Oops. Sorry, Katie. Looks like you'd posted as I was typing. :embarass:

[triplexxx]

There's another one, boy I wonder how this month is gonna be looked back on, RIP Billy Mays.

[Wildcat]

This is awful. Billy was so awesome. I loved watching Pitchmen on Discovery channel.

I can't believe so many celebrites are dying. Its taken me a few days to excpet Michael Jacksons death and now this. I just feel awful.

[Ninjinister]

Holy Hell... the Bearded Yeller is gone.

My TMNT figures are on shelves propped up by the Hercules Hooks he advertised...

[Dark 5cythe]

Isnt the shamwow so powerful it absorbs all the air in a room? :P

[Hannah]

Isnt the shamwow so powerful it absorbs all the air in a room? :P
What the hell are you talking about? Go away.

[Cure]

Isnt the shamwow so powerful it absorbs all the air in a room? :P

Wrong guy, asshole. Even then, still inappropriate.

[Dark 5cythe]

wow, tough room.

I dont see anyone weaping in here over the dozens killed in Irans protests. but...oh......internet/tv guy dies, we must have a moment of silence.

[Cure]

Cliched responses and guilt trips don't work here, either.

[Peanut]

Millions of people die everyday! You're all terrible for caring about some low-rent celebrity you don't even know! /predictability

The crazy thing about this is Billy Mays kept popping up in conversation all day yesterday, while the gang was playing on Live. I loved that guy.

[ThirdMarioBro]

This is actually getting borderline creepy. Billy Mays never really got on my nerves. I actually found him funny and cheerful. His appearance on Conan last week was funny as hell and showed he could laugh at himself.

What a fu*king rotten month.

[Machias Banshee]

God.... I've been seeing WAY too much death these past few weeks. This is getting way too close to home....

[BubblyShell22]

Yeah, it seems like they just keep coming. I just found out on Chicago news that Mays died of a heart attack and not because of head trauma.

[Raph's Girl]

Yeesh. I go on vacation *waves to everyone from her grandfather's extremely sloooow computer* and this happens!! Same age as Michael Jackson too. Oi....I saw him in person once many many years ago before he became famous. He was pitching some cleanser stuff (I don't think it was OxyClean) at the Puyallup fairgrounds in Washington State. There was a large crowd watching him on the stage and I remember being impressed by how the stuff worked.

Yes the guy had an annoying voice but he got the job done. According to the news he was about to become the spokesman for Taco Bell of all things. His son, Billy Jr, has been on Pitchmen a couple times. He's starting out in the pitching biz, so there's a legacy at least.

[ThirdMarioBro]

Taco Bell commercials? Those probably would have been funny as hell. Taco Bell is just funny by itself.

[Cipher]

Heard about this last night a friend's house. We all joked that we were surprised he didn't pop a vein in his neck yelling during a commercial.

"A MAJOR ARTERY JUST BURST IN MY NECK. BUT WITH OXYCLEAN, THAT'LL COME RIGHT OOooo...arrrrgh...."

If we're lucky, his tombstone will read:

"HE DIED DOING WHAT HE LOVED!!!!!"

God.... I've been seeing WAY too much death these past few weeks. This is getting way too close to home.... How is Billy Mays too close to home? Unless he was your neighbor or something, in which case, my condolences.

Also, it's okay to joke about this guy because he's not Michael Jackson.

[Ninjinister]

A co-worker and I were talking about he's probably in Heaven, shilling the benefits of said realm. He doesn't need to descend to Earth to do so, because the world can hear him from where he is.

He also promotes cleaning solutions, still:

"CAN'T GET YOUR CLOUD ITS WHITEST? ARE YOUR WINGS LOOKING A LITTLE FILTHY? TRY NEW OMNICLEAN, FROM THE MAKER OF... WELL... YOU!

[Buslady]

seems he had an enlarged heart, it was inevitable

[Raph's Girl]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090807/ap_en_ot/us_billy_mays_7

An autopsy report shows that cocaine use contributed to the heart disease that suddenly killed TV pitchman Billy Mays in June, officials announced Friday.

The Hillsborough County medical examiner's office previously determined that the bearded, boisterous TV spokesman had a heart attack in his sleep. His wife found him unresponsive in bed in their Tampa condo June 28.

Mays was a pop-culture fixture with his energetic commercials pitching gadgets and cleaning products like Orange Glo and OxiClean.

While heart disease was the primary cause of death, a report released Friday by the medical examiner listed cocaine as a "contributory cause of death."

The medical examiner "concluded that cocaine use caused or contributed to the development of his heart disease, and thereby contributed to his death," the office said in a press release.

The office said Mays last used cocaine in the few days before his death but was not under the influence of the drug when he died. Hillsborough County spokeswoman Lori Hudson said nothing in the toxicology report indicated the frequency of Mays' cocaine use.

Cocaine can raise the arterial blood pressure, directly cause thickening of the left wall of the ventricle and accelerate the formation of atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries, the release said.

The toxicology tests also showed therapeutic amounts of painkillers hydrocodone, oxycodone and tramadol, as well as anti-anxiety drugs alprazolam and diazepam. Mays had suffered hip problems and was scheduled for hip-replacement surgery the day after he was found dead.

The McKees Rocks, Pa., native developed his style demonstrating knives, mops and other "As Seen on TV" gadgets on Atlantic City's boardwalk. For years he worked as a hired gun on the state fair and home show circuits, attracting crowds with his booming voice and genial manner.

He got his start on TV on the Home Shopping Network and then branched out into commercials and infomercials. He developed such a strong following that he became the subject of a reality TV series, Discovery Channel's "Pitchmen."

Jimmony cricket.... :o

[The Deadman]

That's sad, that we find out Billy was a cokehead....he will still be a legend in the pitchman business though.

[triplexxx]

Guess this somewhat explains his ecstatic personality, doesn't mean he probably still wasn't a nice guy, he sure seemed like it.

[Leo656]

Really, really disappointed, but nowhere near shocked. Mary and I used to joke that that's why he was so hyper... sad it turned out to be partly true. :ohwell:

That sh*t gets everyone eventually... everyone thinks they're smarter, like my mom did... but it gets them all, eventually. The smart ones just stay away. Between that sh*t and the painkillers, it's no wonder his heart gave out.

I know we live in a hyper-permissive society these days, but seriously... just say no.

[Type 97 Chi-ha]

Really, really disappointed, but nowhere near shocked. Mary and I used to joke that that's why he was so hyper... sad it turned out to be partly true. :ohwell:

That sh*t gets everyone eventually... everyone thinks they're smarter, like my mom did... but it gets them all, eventually. The smart ones just stay away. Between that sh*t and the painkillers, it's no wonder his heart gave out.

I know we live in a hyper-permissive society these days, but seriously... just say no.

I'm sorry about your mother. :cry:

And in my own personal experience, one classmate I knew in junior high and high school, a smart kid, got into drugs and ended up breaking into his best friend's house and going to jail at 18.

[Leo656]

Well thanks. It was actually August 12 1997, so it's not exactly fresh, nor was it unexpected at the time, but yeah, it sucked. I appreciate it all the same.

This dude I work with is 19... basically a good kid, does his job, listens well, speaks intelligently... we were making casual conversation the other day and drugs came up, specifically coke. He told me that the one time he tried it, he called his friend every day for a week looking for more, then came to his senses and never went near it again.

People think it's impossible for it to sneak up on you like that, but it does. I've known and worked with people who almost overnight went from being almost totally straight, right into the gutter, all from "just trying" blow. My dad used to bring these girls as young as 18 over to our place to party with him and his friends, really pretty, sweet looking girls, and it broke my heart to know that they were doing lines and smoking crack with these 50+ year old degenerates. It's f*cking filthy, disgusting behavior.

Sadly, a lot of people like to pretend that coke is as "harmless" as weed nowadays...

[ThirdMarioBro]

Totally man. That about sums it up.

I honestly never suspected Billy as a cokehead. I know he was an eccentric personality, but I've met lots of people that were just naturally energetic. Its a sad thing to know.

[Type 97 Chi-ha]

The kid I mentioned earlier once showed me a bag of hashish. I assume it's different from marijuana, but I don't know exactly. And I don't know what he was doing at the time he turned to crime. Nobody has mentioned him since.

[BubblyShell22]

Yeah, I'm shocked to hear that it was cocaine that killed him. So sad to think that he tried it and this is the result.

[ThirdMarioBro]

Actually used to have a friend that turned into a coke head. Almost killed himself, and would have had his family and friends not literally tied him down and carried him to a facility for detox.

[Leo656]

A cousin of mine that I only met once or twice ended up bad into coke, then stole our other cousin's credit card and maxed it out, putting her into debt. He apologized to her, begged forgiveness... she said "I'm sorry, but I just can't forgive you for this yet, maybe never." So he blew his brains out.

A guy I worked with had huge problems with coke, heroin and pills. So did his wife; he actually did three years in jail or some sh*t b/c she got caught selling huge amounts of coke, but she was like 7 months pregnant and he didn't want his kid to be born in jail the story goes, so he took the rap for her and did the time. Fast forward a few years to last year, they had a huge fight, she tells him basically to drop dead, so he swallowed a bottle of painkillers and sure enough dropped dead. He was like 34.

Drugs are the f*cking devil, man. That's one thing I know. Every single person on Earth knows what can and will happen, yet everyone thinks they can "handle it". Just today my idiot father, whose body is destroyed from all his abuse, was bragging to a friend about all the coke he'd snorted and the crack he'd smoked, and how given the chance (i.e., if he didn't spend 6 months this past winter/spring in the hospital almost dying from heart and liver failure) he'd still be "partying". He's so proud of his degenerate behavior that I literally can't be around him; neither can his other kids. And to this day, he laughs about how great being a "hippie" is, how much "fun" he's had, and that he "may be goin' to hell in a bucket, but at least I'm enjoying the ride!"

It's because of him, and people like him, that I'm constantly angry, bitter, and judgmental; why my only humor comes from dark, twisted places, and why I never have any "fun". After a lifetime of being around junkies who claim they're "only having fun", oblivious to the people they hurt and the lives they ruin, my brain equates anything "fun" with immature, juvenile, selfish behavior. In my mind anyone "having fun" is selfishly somehow hurting someone else. I know that isn't the truth, but for me it's just easier to be angry all the time rather than worry about who my own pleasure might be hurting.

Warped thinking, I know. But it just goes to show you how people can be affected by drugs just by being around them.

[ThirdMarioBro]

Actually, you'd be amazed how many people share your sentiment.

[Leo656]

If more were as outspoken as I am, attitudes might actually change, but sadly I dont see that ever happening.

Its lonely sometimes up here on the high horse, but I dont sacrifice my morals just b/c a permissive society makes my views unpopular.

I just wish cool people like Billy Mays didnt end up dying b/c of these ignorant, permissive attitudes. I really liked the dude. Plus he was technically a Jersey boy. Sad

Did I just go back on topic? Gotta be a first...