TheLizard Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 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. Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here "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." Rough landing Saturday Tampa area media outlets reported that Mays was a passenger on a U.S. Airways flight that made a rough landing on Saturday afternoon at Tampa International Airport, apparently blowing its front tires in an incident that left debris on the runway. Tampa Bay's Fox television affiliate interviewed Mays after the incident. "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." U.S. Airways officials said Sunday they could not immediately confirm that Mays was a passenger. 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ombre Vivante Posted June 28, 2009 Report Share Posted June 28, 2009 Like Natasha Richardson? Strange... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcM Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 He was just on Conan last week.......sad. He had a 3 year old girl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ombre Vivante Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Crazy. I've been to two funerals in the past 6 months, and one of them was for a guy who was about to turn 50. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Not a fan of his, but still, it's sad. I feel for his wife and daughter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 It's sad because people treat him like such a joke, so much that I've heard people just laugh when they hear he's dead, even when there's no joke involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miamisammy29 Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 Truth is, I didn't recognize him by his name alone. But when I saw his picture, I realized who he was. I never really thought much about the dude, but he seemed cool enough. So, I only have one thing to say.... It should have been that Shamwow guy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Joe Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 Did you know that ShamWow Vince Shlomi is also known as Vince Offer...a "comedian" of sorts. Looke here.... Vince Shlomi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chutzpah Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 I sorta liked him just for because he'd only promote the stuff he really believed in...Gee, he's a little younger than me...now I'm sorta scared I think some of his problems were genetic...I read this in another thread...bad eating habits,enlarged heart...probably some stress...but I do feel bad for his family...this is the kind of stuff that happens to other people Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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