| Jun 29 @ 12:54 AM |
TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at Florida home
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burnslikethesun
Posts: 13,027
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[QUOTE]TAMPA, Fla. – Billy Mays, the burly, bearded television pitchman whose boisterous hawking of products such as Orange Glo and OxiClean made him a pop-culture icon, has died. He was 50.
Tampa police said Mays' wife found him unresponsive Sunday morning. A fire rescue crew pronounced him dead at 7:45 a.m. It was not immediately clear how he died. He said he was hit on the head when an airplane he was on made a rough landing Saturday, and his wife, Deborah Mays, told investigators he didn't feel well before he went to bed about 10 p.m. that night.
There were no signs of a break-in at the home, and investigators do not suspect foul play, said Lt. Brian Dugan of the Tampa Police Department, who wouldn't answer 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.
"Although Billy lived a public life, we don't anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days," Deborah Mays said in a statement Sunday. "Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times."
U.S. Airways confirmed that Mays was among the passengers on a flight that made a rough landing on Saturday afternoon at Tampa International Airport, leaving debris on the runway after apparently blowing its front tires.
Tampa Bay's Fox television affiliate interviewed Mays afterward.
"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."
Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said linking Mays' death to the landing would "purely be speculation." She said Mays' family members didn't report any health issues with the pitchman, but said he was due to have hip replacement surgery in the coming weeks.
Laura Brown, spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said she did not know if Mays was wearing his seat belt on the flight because the FAA is not investigating his death.
U.S. Airways spokesman Jim Olson said there were no reports of serious injury due to the landing.
"If local authorities have any questions for us about yesterday's flight, we'll cooperate fully with them," he said.
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.
AJ Khubani, founder and CEO of "As Seen on TV," said he first met Mays in the early 1990s when Mays was still pitching one of his early products, the Shammy absorbent cloth, at a trade fair. He said he most recently worked with Mays on the reality TV show "Pitchmen" on the Discovery Channel, which follows Mays and Anthony Sullivan in their marketing jobs.
"His innovative role and impact on the growth and wide acceptance of direct response television cannot be overestimated or easily replaced; he was truly one of a kind," Khubani said of Mays in a statement.
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!"
Sarah Ellerstein worked closely with Mays when she was a buyer for the Home Shopping Network in the 1990s and he was pitching Orange Glo products.
"Billy was such a sweet guy, very lovable, very nice, always smiling, just a great, great guy," she said, adding that Mays met his future wife at the network. "Everybody thinks because he's loud and boisterous on the air that that's the way he is, but I always found him to be a quiet, down-to-earth person."
His ubiquitousness and thumbs-up, in-your-face pitches won Mays plenty of fans for his commercials on a wide variety of products. People lined up at his personal appearances for autographed color glossies, and strangers stopped 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 liked to tell the story of giving bottles of OxiClean to the 300 guests at his wedding, and doing his ad spiel ("powered by the air we breathe!") on the dance floor at the reception. Visitors to his house typically got bottles of cleaner and housekeeping tips.
As part of "Pitchmen," Mays and Sullivan showed viewers new gadgets such as the Impact Gel shoe insert; the Tool Band-it, a magnetized armband that holds tools; and the Soft Buns portable seat cushion.
"One of the things that we hope to do with 'Pitchmen' is to give people an appreciation of what we do," Mays told The Tampa Tribune in an April interview. "I don't take on a product unless I believe in it. I use everything that I sell."
His former wife, Dolores "Dee Dee" Mays, of McKees Rocks, Pa., recalled that the first product he sold was the Wash-matik, a device for pumping water from a bucket to wash cars.
"I knew him since he was 15, and I always knew he had it in him," she said of Mays' success. "He'll live on forever because he always had the biggest heart in the world. He loved his f
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| Jun 29 @ 1:11 AM |
TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at Florida home |
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Angel54214
Posts: 18,185
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WebMonster already beat you to it Burns, but he didn't put Billy Mays name in the subject title to identify or for keyword search...Oh well;
http://www.matchdoctor.com/thread_88_35937_1/So_much_for_Oxyclean_the_Auto_Scratch_Remover_Kit.html
We'll know tomorrow Burns from the autopsy report.
I wondered if Mays got hit hard from something above him that fell and if he got dizzy or had a fast blackout effect and possible headache. Just my speculations here...he could even had some internal bleeding if he got some measure of concussion.
[Edited on 6/29/2009 1:16 AM]
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| Jun 29 @ 1:12 AM |
TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at Florida home
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burnslikethesun
Posts: 13,027
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I just noticed it.
i have to admit, busted here. I dont do bottoms. 
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| Jun 29 @ 6:56 PM |
TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at Florida home |
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Jankia
Posts: 11,897
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I always liked Billy Mays,he was the kind of guy you could believe even though he was a pitchman.
He seemed like the "everybodies friend" type of guy.
I wonder if he ever won any best beard contests.
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| Jun 29 @ 7:00 PM |
TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at Florida home
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lazareth
Posts: 1,473
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AHHHH... all of the speculation regarding his death....
latest news report from his autopsy.... enlarged heart..
Instead of assumptions, people should just wait for FACTS.. and the news media is guilty of that as well
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| Jun 29 @ 7:52 PM |
TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at Florida home |
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legacy1
Posts: 668
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I just liked the guy in the ESPN commerical...his other's I'm sorry were pretty annoying. I don't know how many times I had to turn the set down because of his loud voice. I'm sure he was a great neighbor or friend etc...but the commercials were a bit much!
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| Jun 29 @ 8:05 PM |
TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at Florida home
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burnslikethesun
Posts: 13,027
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I bought the awesome auger, it is great for making 5 gallons of referied beans.
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| Jun 30 @ 10:29 AM |
TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at Florida home |
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legacy1
Posts: 668
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I bought the awesome auger, it is great for making 5 gallons of referied beans.
Toot away my friend..toot away... 
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| Jun 30 @ 10:39 AM |
TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at Florida home
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Loreli
Posts: 25,399
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I feel very bad that he passed.
But honestly-his commercials annoyed me.
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| Jun 30 @ 11:28 AM |
TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at Florida home |
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WebMonster
Posts: 1,307
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Angel: WebMonster already beat you to it Burns, but he didn't put Billy Mays name in the subject title to identify or for keyword search...Oh well;
I doubt he's ever used a keyword search anyway. The term "Oblivious" comes to mind..  Heck, old Burnsy may even overlook his own thread and start yet another on the same subject. That's just his way.  Operate in Helter-Skelter mode at all times.
-WebMonster  
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| Jun 30 @ 11:32 AM |
TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at Florida home
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Gallows_Humor
Posts: 13,649
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2) Your topic must have a clear subject, so that a reader will know what your thread is about. Please use keywords in your subjects that will allow other users to search for your topic easily. Subjects such as:
So much for Oxyclean & the Auto Scratch Remover Kit!
is hardly that..... 
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| Jun 30 @ 12:02 PM |
TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at Florida home |
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WebMonster
Posts: 1,307
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GH, I see your little imposed Time-Out didn't teach you to read any better.
Nor did it accomplish a badly-needed Attitude Adjustment! 
What's it going to take with you, to finally "Get it"?? Believe it or not, people are actually pulling for you to straighten out and mend your ways.
But you've got to put some effort into it.
-WebMonster
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| Jun 30 @ 12:43 PM |
TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at Florida home
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kjac
Posts: 8,163
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Billy Mays won't be raping any young boys now.
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| Jun 30 @ 1:21 PM |
TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at Florida home |
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Gallows_Humor
Posts: 13,649
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GH, I see your little imposed Time-Out didn't teach you to read any better.
Nor did it accomplish a badly-needed Attitude Adjustment!
What's it going to take with you, to finally "Get it"?? Believe it or not, people are actually pulling for you to straighten out and mend your ways...
... this post is wrong in sooo many ways.....
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| Jun 30 @ 4:29 PM |
TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at Florida home
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Jankia
Posts: 11,897
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If its wrong the part you left out must be darn... But you've got to put some effort into it. good advice.
Now the efforts needed in your using it.
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| Aug 7 @ 6:24 PM |
TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at Florida home |
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burnslikethesun
Posts: 13,027
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It looks like booger sugar killed the big man after all.
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| Aug 7 @ 6:26 PM |
TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at Florida home
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Merchitown
Posts: 6,129
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Say what?
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| Aug 7 @ 6:37 PM |
TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at Florida home |
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burnslikethesun
Posts: 13,027
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Autopsy: Cocaine contributed to Billy Mays' death
TAMPA, Fla. – An autopsy report shows that cocaine use contributed to the heart disease that suddenly killed TV pitchman Billy Mays in June, officials announced Friday.
The Hillsborough County medical examiner's office previously determined that the bearded, boisterous TV spokesman had a heart attack in his sleep. His wife found him unresponsive in bed in their Tampa condo June 28.
Mays was a pop-culture fixture with his energetic commercials pitching gadgets and cleaning products like Orange Glo and OxiClean.
While heart disease was the primary cause of death, a report released Friday by the medical examiner listed cocaine as a "contributory cause of death."
The medical examiner "concluded that cocaine use caused or contributed to the development of his heart disease, and thereby contributed to his death," the office said in a press release.
The office said Mays last used cocaine in the few days before his death but was not under the influence of the drug when he died. Hillsborough County spokeswoman Lori Hudson said nothing in the toxicology report indicated the frequency of Mays' cocaine use. The man like booger sugar.
High intesitivy, high stress, poor sleep, most likely bad diet and booger sugar.
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| Aug 7 @ 6:39 PM |
TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at Florida home
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Merchitown
Posts: 6,129
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| Aug 7 @ 7:03 PM |
TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at Florida home |
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MotownManiax
Posts: 9,737
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Cocaine, eh? I always wondered where he got his manic energy.
I'm about half and half with his commercials. I enjoy the first 30 seconds, but by the end supremely annoyed. I see he still lives on, though. I just saw one of his commercials for some power saw last night...lol. Must be contractual obligation. I was always amazed by the dye he used on his beard and hair. I never knew jet black was "that" dark?
 Mo
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