Television “pitchman” Billy Mays — who built his fame by appearing on commercials and infomercials promoting household products and gadgets — died Sunday. Mays 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.
Mays, 50, 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. Mays was on board a US Airways flight that blew out its front tires as it landed at a Tampa airport on Saturday, MyFOXTampa.com reported. US Airways spokesman Jim Olson said that none of the 138 passengers and five crew members were injured in the incident, but several passengers reported having bumps and bruises, according to the station.
Authorities have not said whether Mays’ death was related to the incident. “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. 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.”
KABOOM! It must have been all that yelling. What a strange week this has been.
Meanwhile, the president of Honduras is kidnapped and taken to Costa Rica.
Kids, learn from Billy… do NOT swallow that Mighty Putty™.
RIP. The only celebrity death this week that I feel bad about.
#3. LOL funny.
It should be noted that Mays was NOT wearing his seat belt at the time of the landing incident. This may or may not have led to increased and perhaps fatal head trauma. The similar death of Steve Allen some years ago after a minor traffic accident comes to mind…
Tom
This is terrible, I actually really liked Billy Mays, especially after watching Pitchmen, seemed like a very nice and fun person, my thoughts go out to his family (he had a very young daughter along with a few kids).
I wonder if Adam will pick up on the fact that this happened shortly after his TV show featured, briefly, an inventor with an engine that claimed to use no fuel at all, and Mays actually joking refused to pitch it, claiming he didn’t want a hit placed on it.
It was also a Boeing.
Looks like God is aggresively de-cruiting the 50-and-over crowd. I once “cursed” the Baby Boomers but it was only in jest. BTW, it really should have been that Sham-Wow guy, don’t you think?
Never heard of him. RIP anyway.
If there is an after life, Ferret, Ed, Mikey and Billy can hook up
Uh Oh! We’ll miss him. RIP
Just waiting for Alfredone to say that Billy was murdered by the Obama administration, just in order to pull attention away from their evil agenda.
Damn. Now, it’s FOURS, instead of THREES!
#13 – faxon
They had to make up for inflation… 😉
[Comment deleted – Violation of Posting Guidelines. – ed.]
At least now I can watch old game shows late at night without Billy Mays waking up my family every commercial break!
#16 – BigEdsBlog
LOL
#17 – Dall – …without Billy Mays waking up my family every commercial break!
Don’t worry… they’ll run Best of Billy Mays, just so that you’ll remember him.
#5….I’ll bet you’re right on this one.
Unexpected and a shame.
I liked watching those infomericials with all those silly products.
I was more concerned when my cat died.
I didn’t even like my cat.
# 13 faxon said,
Damn. Now, it’s FOURS, instead of THREES!
Or there’s two more to go! (pair of threes?)
J/P=?
Not to be confused with Billy May, band leader, who backed the incomparable Stan Freberg.
I made a bigger error than that. The gf was a big fan of Joe Jackson, and I came back from the thrift store with several albums by Jackson Browne. Oh well.
Wow this is too sad. I love watching Billy work his magic on the screen. Guess Pitchmen is canceled now? 🙁
He was the best center fielder to ever play baseball.
#16 – BigEdsBlog
No more big blue balls. 😀
To many celebrity deaths this week. I hate the unkind comments from some of these commenters. It’s sad.