billy mays is dead (Tribute)

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.

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[ragekageandjables]

we'll all miss billy mays

[volcom6637]

lol

IT HAS THE STRENGTH TO PUT ME BACK TOGETHER!

[MrAwesomeman444]

1 person doesn't care about Billy May's death. disliker, if you are seeing this comment, SCREW YOU!

[boardslide7]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH­HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH­HHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Im an insomniac

[kkwkelsi98]

They told me i fell to the floor i cried for over an hour poor guy i looked at youtube videos or tributes for over an hour the sad thing is his commercials still air the things that i remember most about him is that when i was little my mom whould tell me go to bed or ill get billy mays to tell you man i whould run to my room so fast i mean come on the slider station the oxi clean its all cruddy stuff but wait theres more well no more billy no more R.I.P. Billy Mays -Kelsi age 11

[McPfoot]

WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY TO REBUILD HIM

[noshit1234567890]

next is JHONNY KNOX

[noshit1234567890]

lol

[noshit1234567890]

well this sucks now we are going to have to listen to a retard on oxi clean stuff instead of mays