Television pitchman Billy Mays — who built his fame by appearing on commercials and infomercials promoting household products and gadgets — died Sunday.
Mays, 50, was found unresponsive by his wife inside his Tampa, Fla., home at 7:45 a.m. on Sunday, according to the Tampa Police Department.
Police said there were no signs of forced entry to Mays’ residence and foul play is not suspected. Authorities said an autopsy should be complete by Monday afternoon.
“Although Billy lived a public life, we don’t anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days. Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times,” Mays wife, Deborah, said in a statement on Sunday.
Mays was well known for his numerous television promotions of such products as Orange Glo and OxiClean. He was also featured on the reality TV show “Pitchmen” on the Discovery Channel, which followed Mays and Anthony Sullivan in their marketing jobs.
[...]
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.”
Tags: Billy Mays, RIP
DO WE ALL GET TO YELL NOW?
/hehehe
Actually, now this makes FIVE people dead when it should have stopped 2 people ago.
Remember the rule of three.
re: #1 by savage
YES WE DO!!!
re: #2 by Bob in Breckenridge
OK! I’M HAPPY NOW!
Damn now Billy Mays, wow this is really getting bugged out.
Oh, we can add Gale Storm to the list of the dead.
She was one of the early TV stars
one more to go.
I liked him.
re: #6 by LanceKates
I got stuck at home and Mom wanted me to watch TV with her and Billy was on The View. I was surprised at how cool the guy actually was. Talked just like everyone else. Pretty charming dude.
re: #7 by savage
He lived here in Tampa.
re: #8 by Rodan
I noticed that when I was reading the press release from US Airways. Looks like the plane he was on blew out a couple of tires and the overhead baggage flew out all over and something hit him in the head.
R.I.P. – actually he should have called himself Willie Mays instead of Billy Mays.
re: #8 by Rodan
Tampa – an hours drive to the airport from my home in Bradenton!
re: #11 by Speranza
OMG! I was in your area last night visiting my parents! I will email you.
Bye Bye Billy Mays
Am I the only one finding “Flo” (actually comedienne Stephanie Courtney) of the Progressive Auto Insurance commercials to be the most annoying person on TV commercials?
Let’s not forget Natasha Richardson.
re: #14 by Speranza
The most annoying person on TV commercials is without a doubt
William Shatner
It isn’t a person, but that stack of money with eyes also pegs the annoyometer.
re: #16 by BuddyG
Vince the ShamWow guy?
re: #18 by Speranza
I just looked up Vince the Sham-wow guy and turns out the guy is Israeli. wow
The Sham-Wow Guy at The Smoking Gun..
re: #17 by song_and_dance_man
To me it’s the GEICO lizard.
Honestly, has there ever been a more annoying pitch man?
re: #8 by Rodan
Hey Rodan,
How are the Tampa Sweethearts?
re: #21 by no2liberals
Yes. The Michelin man.
Or those bears with the toilet paper on their butts.
re: #24 by song_and_dance_man
All of those are minor annoyances to me, compared to a freaking lizard with a Brit accent.
If I ever meet the guy that came up with that ad idea, I will do the same thing to him I will to the man that invented ring tones, punch him in the nose, and kick him in the yarbles.
/if he has any
In Three or Four speak, There should be another, coming event.
David Caridine, Ed Mcmahan, Farragh,
mj, This add guy, and Ron Paul. or,
Lets face it. Lets face the pond scum. Now.
re: #25 by no2liberals
They should stick with the cavemen and the road squirrels. The commercial with the screaming critters from owls to a bug was definitely funny.
re: #27 by song_and_dance_man
Haven’t seen the cavemen in a while.
Breakthrough on the Authorship of Obama’s ‘Dreams’
Say what you want about Billy Mays, that OxiClean is some good stuff.
re: #29 by no2liberals
Yes. Butt. Who wrote the next me please book?
Wernt numb nuts o….!
Fo Sho, 70’s add lib. cool.
Piss out of a boot, could not determine up, or down. Terminate abort mission. Piss runs uphill. Over. FAIL.
re: #31 by Jognot
Que?
Is that TFK?
edit
errata…Can’t be. There are caps.
Seriously, his voice would wake me up from a dead sleep… Hopefully “out of respect” they yank his commercials like they removed the almond commercials with Robert Goulet. Then I will finally be able to sleep through my televisions “sleep” timer mode.
re: #29 by no2liberals
Huh.
Interesting.
re: #34 by Bill Jenkins
I’ve always liked Billy Mays. I’m not sure why, he just wasn’t annoying like the ShamWow guy.
Now, I don’t know what his friend will do, regarding his pitchmen show. Hard loss for his friends and family, very sad.
re: #31 by Jognot
Alrighty, then.
re: #30 by tqcincinnatus
I keep some Oxi around, and it works, but I later found out it is mostly hydrogen peroxide.
re: #38 by no2liberals
speaking of finding out cool stuff…. Ever have to maintain a pool and pay through the nose for pool chemicals?
chlorine tablets cost 3 to 4 times more than generic brand liquid bleach (and don’t work as well as liquid bleach) from the laundry aisle.
Need to control the alkaline level? Don’t buy the chemical, use generic baking powder.
PH level too low? Don’t buy the way the hell too expensive PH Up. Just use 20 mule team borax. Fraction of the cost.
re: #39 by LanceKates
Never have, but good info.
If Oxi is hydrogen based the why is it called Oxi?
Shouldn’t it be called HydroClean?
I use vinegar in my wash.
re: #40 by no2liberals
We maintain a 16000 gallon pool. ANy cost cutting measures are worthwhile.
re: #41 by song_and_dance_man
Chemical interaction in water.
And a catchier name.
Hydroclean makes it sound like you’re just using water, rather than a reference to hydrogen.
Wow, this is a bad time to be a famous person.
Bea Arthur, Ed McMahon, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, David Carradine.
Ricardo Montalban died earlier this year, in January.
Actor Ron Silver died in March of this year, so too actress Natasha Richardson, and singer Dan Seals.
Actor Andy Hallett passed away in April (he played “Loren” the green demon character on the vampire TV show “Angel.”)
Pitcher Nick Adenhart died in April 09, too.
Dom DeLuise died in May 09.
Lynyrd Skynyrd bassist Donald ‘Ean’ Evans – died in May 09 as well.
Wayne Allwine, voice of Mickey Mouse in cartoons, also passed away in May 09.
re: #43 by LanceKates
Ah, yes. I know hydrogen peroxide can whiten teeth and hair, but I have a hard time believing it could remove stains as quickly as the commercials claimed.
I never used it so I really don’t know. OxyClean, that is.
re: #45 by song_and_dance_man
I didn’t say it was all H2O2, just mostly.
Does anyone know what they used in the 1800’s to whiten their teeth?
They say the early morning stuff was best, too bad it removed the enamel also, so white teeth now, no teeth later.
re: #47 by bar
I know they used baking soda and salt for a long time.
How’s your toof?
re: #48 by no2liberals
Urine was the 1800’s teeth whitener. Early morning urine they say was the best.
Ammonia being the key ingredient, but it destroys the tooth enamel and then its all over.
And the new diesel cars also use a chemical found in urine to lower their emissions.
My tooth is doing good, except now I need to get a crown and the Endodontist says I have only 30 days, so I will have to push it to the limit.
I’ve used baking soda and hydrogen peroxide to clean my teeth for most of my life and have had only one cavity so far. And that ONE just happened.
re: #49 by bar
TMI, on the early tooth care.
Yeah, you don’t want that temp coming off.
re: #51 by no2liberals
Temp crown?
I don’t have that yet.
Hell I had this half tooth with an exposed root for going on 2 years, so whats another 30 days or so?
re: #50 by song_and_dance_man
Some people just have good teeth.
I don’t take care of mine like I should and I have had only a few cavities.
re: #49 by bar
That’s disgusting. I heard or read that corn cobs used to used as…nevermind
re: #52 by bar
Okay, really-really TMI.
They put in a temp as soon as they did my root canal. Got the crown a few weeks later.
Most-decorated Marine pilot dies at 89.
God speed, Col.
What a man, what a Marine.
re: #53 by bar
That may be it. A genetic thing. My dad, when he left us, still had a fair set of teeth and full head of hair.
re: #54 by song_and_dance_man
And I heard the Sears catalog was the ultimate TP.
John Thune has a Government Ownership Exit Plan.
A great idea, which is why it will never see the light of day in the Senate.
Y’all have a good’un.
Fading fast.
re: #55 by no2liberals
My dentist didnt do root canals, so I had to go somewheres else.
Thus the no temp crown yet.
re: #60 by no2liberals
Have a good night and great tomorrow.
re: #56 by no2liberals
Now that says a lot about the current state of morals in American.
A moment of silence for MJ and not an hour of silence for this brave gentleman.
This man is a true American hero.
“Powdered Oxygen Bleach Products”:
http://oxygenbleach.homestead.com/files/
Did I mention I hate Obama?
My Mom used to tell me about the corn cobs. That, and the Sears catalog.
Follow up to my 65.
My dad still gets a giggle every now and then by mentioning that Arabs use their left hand.
re: #66 by CloudyDay
Yeah, but bacon is forbidden!
re: #66 by CloudyDay
OxiClean for your left hand. But wait…
re: #19 by savage
He was born in Israel but came to this country when he was an infant.
re: #21 by no2liberals
How about the GEICO cave men?
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