Billy Mays dies at 50
June 4, 2008
Dear readers:
I have always been a fan of Billy Mays and I am deeply saddened by his recent passing. I send my condolences to the Mays Family.
This article was a written last year, originally as a joke. It included jokes which do not seem appropriate at this time, so I have changed the article to the official Associated Press press release. Once again, condolences go out to the Mays family – his son, daughter, wife and father – as well as his friends and fans.
Best wishes,
Nick Butler
(AP) – TV pitchman Billy Mays found dead at Florida home.
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 friends and family and would do anything for them. He was a generous soul and a great father.”
Besides his wife, Mays is survived by a 3-year-old daughter and a stepson in his 20s, police said.
–
Associated Press Writer Sarah Larimer in Miami and Ron Todt in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
Comments
49 Responses to “Billy Mays dies at 50”
Got something to say?
What is this crap. BILLY MAYS IS THE BEST THING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO INFO-MERCIALS!!!!!!!
I AM IN LOVE WITH HIM!!!!!
HE SHA’LL BE MINE!!!!
I wonder how Billy Mays feels knowing that 90% of all people in America hate him.
ND BCS champs 2009!
ND 30
USC 13
Billy mays would gut that vince guy anyway, didn’t vince get arrested?
This site has to be the biggest Douche-fest on the web – seriously. Not funny, not even a little.
Why does everyone hate him?
ITS KINDA SAD HOW IRONIC THIS WAS
CONSIDERING HE REALLY IS DEAD NOW
Yes he did die for real this time.Tampa News had an interview with him last night on the unlanding of the Plane from PA and then they just broke in thta he has died @ age 50 . RIP Oxi-clean Man
In my mind, he was a good guy. Very helpful person, respectful. I had a few inventions and wanted to share them with Billy and Mike. I watched his shows, commercials and so fort. He is a great guy. He was funny and always made people think about him. Great guy. Rest in peace and we will be thinking about you.
Dear readers:
I have always been a fan of Billy Mays and I am deeply saddened by his recent passing. I send my condolences to the Mays Family, as well as all his friends and family.
This article was written for entertainment reasons, and of course was meant to be a joke. As it is ironic now, I would never wish death upon someone, and I assure you I am as shocked as you. I’m sorry if it now offends anyone.
Best wishes,
Nick Butler
this be racest, that all is
Willie Mays is thye best player in all of baseball
white folks maken fun of him be dead
racest, that all is
for all you people who dont like billy mays i wish you and your family would go to hell
dis modafuckaa was an annoying piece of shiatt.. every time that commericial came on i had to turn down the effing volume geezzuss. but hes a memorabe man. peace homie
@ tom foley: I think it’s a little harsh to curse his family to hell, what if they like him?
Anyways, NOOOOOOO. I LOVE BILLY MAYS!!!
you are all losers!!
billy mays was a man! who had a loud voice and smelled!!!
but that is no reason to hate him!!
he is a nice man you people who write bad things about billy mays are a bunch of animals!
emilee your momma smells
laquisha eat a banana bitch
someone on march 5th how does it feel that 100% of america hates you!
all you people who did not like him come pick up your mothers Im done with them
Mays was the best at what he did and was always responsible in his choice of products to pitch. I offer my condolences to his family, friends and fans. He will be missed.
He will be missed.
godbless you billy mays
keri you are sweet honey
Was he a victim of globalization? According to Dr. Steve Christopher who examined Mays announced earlier in a press conference the cause of death was “a mix between chemicals found in Windex [owned by S. C. Johnson] and every day dust found in homes around the U.S”.
Should we be worried about these chemicals?
Whoever wrote this article is an absolute asshole. The guy was passionate about what he sold, and DID use all of those products in his home too. 90% of the people in the world hate him? Good one dickhead. Your article sucks, it’s not funny and neither are you. Billy Mays probably makes 90% of the world smile.
HE ROCKS D’:
why did he die he was the spirit of crap products
he rocked
RIP
p u emilee is that you go take a bath in acid
I WAS A BIG FAN OF BILLY MAYS AND FOUND HIM SUCH AN INTERESTING PERSON AS WELL AS GOOD LOOKING —-SO SORRY TO HEAR OF HIS DEATH. HE WAS A GRFEAT SPOKSMAN. I AM SO SAD.
Jacque, this article was written 1 year and 20 days ago. I had no intention on attacking him or his personality, it was a joke. I literally love Billy Mays and everything he did. He lived a happy life and it’s truly sad it was taken from him when he was only 50 years old. My best wishes go out to his friends, family, and fans.
Wow, I am so sad to hear about Billy Mays … dead at 50, and at the top of his game. I was a huge fan and was really getting into his new reality show on the Discovery Channel. I’m really speechless.
This unbelieveable, Michael Jackson is dead, now Billy Mays is gone. who next. everybody should start praying starting from now. The world is coming to an end.
Max
at least billy mays didnt molest children like michael did !
GOD BLESS THE MAYS FAMILY
REST IN PEACE
Umm yea Mantle or whatever it was proved in court that michael jackson did not molest little boys so shut the fuck up MJ is dead and u should show respect for the dead. RIP MJ. And for Billy mays. He was funny everyone will miss him RIP.
CNN did a whole week of special MJ coverage and not a word about Billy Mays!
Shame on you people.
kiya im fucking your momma right now Im not thinking of mike the fag hey your mom is good ah !
kiya jerk off just because it was not poven in court does not mean it didnt happen why do you think he was broke they say because he paid hush money if someone was innocent they would not do that and he did it more than once you dumb bastard!
hey kiya hitler is dead should i show respect to him? asshole!
i agree with mantle you are a wise dude
hey kiya would you blow me
Look folks, I couldn’t stand Billy Mays when he would jolt me out of my chair with his loud, obnoxious voice. I would hit that MUTE button as fast as I could. So if it meant he had to die in order for us not to have to be annoyed with him, then so be it. My condolences to his family. He might have been a wonderful person to those that knew him, but all some of us knew about him was that he annoyed us. For those of you who loved his loud booming voice, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU GET A HEARING TEST BECAUSE YOU CAN’T HEAR FOR $HIT! GET YOURSELF A HEARING AID SO YOU CAN TURN YOUR TV DOWN AND STOP ANNOYING EVERYONE AROUND YOU. CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
Don, you obviously didn’t watch Pitchmen.
poor don did he jolt you out of your chair boo hoo you pussy! you must not be married because listening to billy mays is a pleasure compared to listening to some cunt wife!
BILLY MAIDS COULD NOT DIE LIKE THAT HE WAS SOOO FUNNY AND THE BEST TV COMERCIAL GUY EVER I LOVE HIM I AM REALLY CRYING RIGHT NOW AND THE SONG THAT IM HEARING RIGHT NOW ISNT HELPING EATJHER( SCIENTHIST FROM COLDPLAY) NOOOOOOOO BILLY MAIDS WHY YOU WHY NOW!!!!!!!!!
ooo and i am totally with jacque’s comment on this article !!!
It was extremely sad that he had to pass away at such a young age. To me he was in my top 10 favorite TV men. To the Mays family I wish you the best of luck. In all means I honestly loved him & his commercials.
Don Mack and Laquisha Jackson fuck you both. Billy Mays did nothing to you. you dont have 2 watch his commercials. lazy bastards sitting at home watching too much t.v. if you hear his commercials so often. how would you feel if that were ur family member having that said about them? laquisha you should get up off the couch and Dom you should get laid. Rip Billy Mays
johnson*
right on bobby!