[Deathwatch] Billy Mays, TV Pitchman, 50

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

'Infomercial King' Billy Mays Found Dead in Home

Sunday , June 28, 2009

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.

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.

His ubiquitousness and thumbs-up, in-your-face pitches won Mays plenty
of fans. People line up at his personal appearances for autographed
color glossies, and strangers stop him in airports to chat about the
products.

"I enjoy what I do," Mays told The Associated Press in a 2002
interview. "I think it shows."

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.

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."

June 28, 2009
Billy Mays, TV Pitchman, Dies
By Mike Hale

In a week unusually rife with celebrity death, it?s a little spooky to
note that the king of pop, Michael Jackson, and the king of pitchmen,
Billy Mays, were born within about six weeks of each other in 1958.

Mr. Mays, who was found dead this morning by his wife in their Tampa,
Fla., home, was one of the loudest and, perhaps as a consequence, one
of the most familiar voices on American television, as Rob Walker noted
recently in The New York Times Magazine.

Since his death was reported this morning, the top trending topics on
Twitter have been ?RIP Billy Mays? followed by the product with which
he was most closely associated, the stain remover OxiClean. (No. 3: the
misspelling ?OxyClean.?) One tweet notes, ?He was the only human that
was allowed to speak entirely in CAPS LOCK.?

Much of the discussion on Twitter and on Mays fan sites involved
speculation that a rough landing Saturday night at the Tampa airport,
caused by a blown front tire on a U.S. Airways flight Philadelphia,
might have been a factor in his death. An autopsy is scheduled to be
completed on Monday.

He had recently emerged from the infomercial ghetto with a reality
show, ?Pitchmen? on the Discovery Channel, in which he and his fellow
pitchman Anthony Sullivan judged inventors? proposals for new products.
But Mr. Mays was already a major presence in the Web video world, where
his own braying infomercials exist side by side with a thriving genre
of Mays parodies, remixes and outtakes. Among the more popular: the
?Mighty Putty Dub,? in which Mr. Mays appears to develop Tourette?s
midway through his pitch, and the ?billy mays gangsta remix.? 

Many thanks to Deathwatch Central for posting this obituary