Infomercial Pitchman Billy Mays Found Dead
June 28th, 2009 by Kelly
Okay. I’ve had enough now.
Billy Mays, the TV pitchman whose trademark voice helped sell everything from cleaning supplies to baking soda, was found dead this morning by his wife at his Tampa home. No cause of death has been reported and no foul play is suspected, according to Tampa police.
Mays, 50, was pronounced dead at 7:45 a.m. at a Bowen Daniel Drive condo. His wife, Deborah Mays, found him unresponsive this morning. The Medical Examiner’s Office will complete Mays’ autopsy by tomorrow afternoon.
No other information is currently available.
Perhaps ironically, Mays escaped mortal peril yesterday afternoon when the U.S. Airways flight he was on blew out a tire on its landing gear. The plane managed to land safely, and Mays escaped harm, only to be found by his wife early this morning.
Mays was a TV staple, pitching products such as Oxiclean, Orange Clean, and Kaboom, and starring in a reality TV show on the Discovery Channel called Pitchmen, which followed Mays and another infomercial svengali, Anthony Sullivan. His booming voice and very manly beard will be missed. Thoughts and prayers for the family.
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:( So sad! He seemed like a great guy! I bought some of the products he sold, just because of him :D RIP Billy Mays!
I really hope no more famous people die in the next week. Crazy stuff..
Holy crap! Is it weird that the day that Michael and Farrah died, I saw one of his commercials and thought something like, “He’s next.”? I’m creepy, I know.
Holy crap, these things come in waves. It’s like when it seems like all celebrities are getting married or having a baby, but death is a bit of a different story.
If a website crops up where people take bets on the next random celebrity death then I just might have to quit the Internet. And I don’t mean jokes like those about Lohan, those I think are just fine. Billy Mays is totally random.
LOL, the morning show I listen too does that. Every Friday right b4 the end of the show they all put money in a pool and pick a celeb to die the next week, whoever wins gets the cash. Morbid and kind of fucked up I know, but it keeps me sane on my morning drive…
I can’t take anymore.
Poor poor Billy.
Maybe now we can stop with the Michael Jackson coverage. Please?
Agreed. I was SOOO tired of loading up CNN and seeing that banner. Like… SURELY something else newsworthy has occured? Ugh. :o)
Maybe he really was freaked out by the plane incident, I know that would halfway kill me. Condolences to the family, this sucks.
WHYYYYYYYYYY
This is crazy.
Say it isn’t so!!!! Everybody loves Billy Mays. This is so shocking. God speed Billy Mays…..
He bumped his head hard on the plane. Bet this will turn out like the Natasha Richardson case. Sad.
That’s what I was thinking too. It seems like too big of a coincidence to not be related.
that’s what I thought when I read the article. That or drugs. Why else does a seemingly normal 50 year old just die?
Heart disease. Aneurysm. Blood clot. Stroke. You name it.
So does this start a new list of three?
Will it be “B” listers. HMMM Better watch out Jon & Kate. lol or other discovery/tlc show stars. Cant be cheaper by 11?
Yeah its been that kind of week.
But serioulsy I was more upset by This decent man then the others.
I LOVED watching Pitchmen. My boyfriend and I DVR’d it every week and watched it before bed. Billy seemed like such a nice guy with a great sense of humor. Who will yell me to sleep now? :-(
The police should find out where Vince “hooker punching Sham-Wow” was last night.
I made a comment like that under a friend’s posting on facebook. Don’t forget to mention his ties to Scientology!
Who has ties to Scientology?
From his Wikipedia entry, which shall henceforth be regarded as truth:
“In 2004, Offer [Vince's birth name], an ex-Scientologist, sued the Church of Scientology with the help of attorney Ford Greene. He alleged that the church had declared him a criminal and had urged its members to commit libel against him. Offer claimed that the church’s actions caused him to lose a successful business, as many of his employees were Scientologists who quit upon learning of what the church did.”
Heh heh. You gettin’ a good look at this, camera guy?
Holy crap. How many more people are going to die? RIP Billy, Michael, Farrah and Ed.
Don’t forget RIP Bea Arthur and David Carradine…
Wow.
I’m legitimately upset about this.
l bought OxyClean, because he convinced me it was that awesome.
Oh, I didn’t mean to reply to yours.
I was so sad when i heard about this earlier today. I loved to watch this man when there was never anything else on tv to watch. He seemed like such a good person… :(
I was so sad when i heard about this earlier today. I loved to watch this man when there was never anything else on tv to watch. He seemed like such a good person… :(
Its like when Steve Irwin died. We never saw it coming. Felt aweful when it was confirmed. Kind of feel cheated.
I hate it when the decent person gets it, not that I wish death on anyone but Osama.
But he had kids right. Seemed like a nice guy. Its a shame.
Now who is going to wake me as I am just about to doze to a nap on my couch?
rip Billy
exactly. condolences to the Mays family. but seriously, we knew this guy’s name? to me, he’s the shouting guy who makes me go for the mute button on the remote immediately. who likes to be shouted at?
I’m pretty sure everyone already knew his name, yeah. I think they give his name at the beginning of some of his commercials.
Maybe he mistakenly sniffed the Oxyclean instead of the Oxycontin…
Wow this is too sad. I love watching Billy work his magic on the screen. Guess Pitchmen is canceled now? :(
He was just on Conan this past week, plugging his show, and he seemed like a genuinely nice guy…he will be missed.
My husband would mute the TV when his commercials came on. Could not put up with the screaming. I have bought a number of things he promoted and all but Kaboom I am happy with the products. Do not leave Kaboom on your stainless steel as it will stain it. Turns black if you do not wipe it right away. What a sad week. To many young older people dying.
I hated his whiny, high pitched voice. It was SO annoying. I put my TV on mute everytime he came on. But I am sorry he passed away.
I’m not religious but could this be the beginning of the rapture?
I know his voice was obnoxious, but if you watch Pitchmen (GREAT SHOW) on Discovery Channel..you will see what a down to earth, funny guy and family man to a small adorable daughter ..what a damn shame. Him and Sully had such a rapport together, friends, businessmen..