TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at home - Page 2

Peanut · 06-28-2009, 07:17 PM

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** · 06-28-2009, 08:55 PM

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** · 06-28-2009, 09:56 PM

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

*BubblyShell22* · 06-29-2009, 12:44 PM

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* · 06-29-2009, 06:25 PM

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** · 06-29-2009, 07:46 PM

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

*Cipher* · 06-29-2009, 09:46 PM

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!!!!!"

Quote:

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* · 06-29-2009, 09:51 PM

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* · 06-29-2009, 11:29 PM

seems he had an enlarged heart, it was inevitable

*Raph's Girl* · 08-07-2009, 05:31 PM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090807/...s_billy_mays_7

Quote:

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....

*The Deadman* · 08-07-2009, 06:17 PM

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

*triplexxx* · 08-07-2009, 06:21 PM

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

~~Leo656~~ · 08-07-2009, 11:53 PM

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.

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 · 08-08-2009, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

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~~ · 08-09-2009, 12:09 AM

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** · 08-09-2009, 12:27 AM

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 · 08-09-2009, 01:38 PM

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* · 08-09-2009, 04:33 PM

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** · 08-09-2009, 06:29 PM

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~~ · 08-14-2009, 12:49 AM

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.

06-28-2009, 08:55 PM	#22
ThirdMarioBro Tea Time! Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 8,905	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. __________________

06-29-2009, 06:25 PM	#25
Raph's Girl Dierna Soul, Reporter Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Jakku Posts: 10,831	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. __________________

06-29-2009, 07:46 PM	#26
ThirdMarioBro Tea Time! Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 8,905	Taco Bell commercials? Those probably would have been funny as hell. Taco Bell is just funny by itself. __________________

06-29-2009, 09:51 PM	#28
Ninjinister 無問題 Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Moesko Island, WA Posts: 14,348	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!* __________________

06-29-2009, 11:29 PM	#29
Buslady WingsOfDarkness! Perkele! Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: In 7803... Posts: 4,366	seems he had an enlarged heart, it was inevitable __________________

06-28-2009, 07:17 PM	#21
Peanut Second Gear Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: The New World Posts: 15,422	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.

06-28-2009, 09:56 PM	#23
Machias Banshee Super Moderator Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 17,163	God.... I've been seeing WAY too much death these past few weeks. This is getting way too close to home....

06-29-2009, 12:44 PM	#24
BubblyShell22 Leo-holic Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Indiana Posts: 16,912	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.

08-07-2009, 06:17 PM	#31
The Deadman Foot Elite Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Maryland Posts: 4,170	That's sad, that we find out Billy was a cokehead....he will still be a legend in the pitchman business though. __________________ Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/Dead2009/ Backloggd: https://backloggd.com/u/Dead2009/ Dropkickd: https://www.dropkickd.com/user/Dead2009

08-07-2009, 06:21 PM	#32
triplexxx Mad Scientist Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 1,819	Guess this somewhat explains his ecstatic personality, doesn't mean he probably still wasn't a nice guy, he sure seemed like it. __________________ Please don't shoot me Mr. Big Mike. I'm too young and good-looking to die, well too young. I got a father, I got a mother, I got a grandmother, I got a little sister...and a little brother this high (raises hand), and a little brother this high (lowers hand), and little brother this high (lowers hand), and a little brother this high (lowers hand), and a little brother this high (lowers hand) and then I got a great big brother this high (slaps gun and runs). "Fright Night" - Three Stooges

08-07-2009, 11:53 PM	#33
~~Leo656~~ Banned Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: nWo Country Posts: 27,703	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. That sht 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 sht 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.

08-09-2009, 12:09 AM	#35
~~Leo656~~ Banned Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: nWo Country Posts: 27,703	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...

08-09-2009, 12:27 AM	#36
ThirdMarioBro Tea Time! Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 8,905	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. __________________

08-09-2009, 01:38 PM	#37
Type 97 Chi-ha Mad Scientist Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Brookfield, IL Posts: 1,333	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.

08-09-2009, 04:33 PM	#38
BubblyShell22 Leo-holic Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Indiana Posts: 16,912	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.

08-09-2009, 06:29 PM	#39
ThirdMarioBro Tea Time! Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 8,905	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. __________________

08-14-2009, 12:49 AM	#40
~~Leo656~~ Banned Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: nWo Country Posts: 27,703	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 sht 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 fcking 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.