Author Topic: Billy Mays dies too (Read 2057 times)

Rustyinfla · « **on:** June 28, 2009, 09:29:10 AM »

The TV pitchman Billy Mays was found dead in his south Tampa home today.

Cement Man · « **Reply #1 on:** June 28, 2009, 09:35:32 AM »

I just saw that too. Pretty shocking - only 50 years old.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obit_billy_mays

Sounds like a rough landing on an airliner the night before may have some cause in this.

ms · « **Reply #2 on:** June 28, 2009, 09:46:44 AM »

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. If they can complete autopsy on Mays that fast . Then why do we have to wait for 6 to 8 weeks on Mj autopsy? For the next 6 to 8 weeks going to be michael this michael that.
:

Skunk · « **Reply #3 on:** June 28, 2009, 09:50:59 AM »

That's a shame. I never cared too much for his commercials, but I figured he'd be around for a long time to come. RIP Billy Mays.

Cheesehead · « **Reply #4 on:** June 28, 2009, 10:02:15 AM »

YIKES! It is dangerous to be over 50, lately.

Cheese

JonnyC · « **Reply #5 on:** June 28, 2009, 10:15:59 AM »

I'm starting to get the feeling that everyone dies sooner or later. I hope I'm wrong.

Heather · « **Reply #6 on:** June 28, 2009, 11:01:32 AM »

Matt and I were just watching his new series Pitchmen the other night. He appeared to be the picture of health. That is a real shame.

Heather

powderman · « **Reply #7 on:** June 28, 2009, 11:06:18 AM »

Sorry to see of his death. That whiny voice took some getting used to. POWDERMAN.

lakota · « **Reply #8 on:** June 28, 2009, 11:06:37 AM »

I was saddened to hear this. I found him to be a rather likeable character.

Cement Man · « **Reply #9 on:** June 28, 2009, 11:17:15 AM »

Quote from: ms on June 28, 2009, 09:46:44 AM

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. If they can complete autopsy on Mays that fast . Then why do we have to wait for 6 to 8 weeks on Mj autopsy? For the next 6 to 8 weeks going to be michael this michael that.
:

MJ's autopsy was done (at least the first one, now the family wants another)the very next day also, but the toxicology reports will take longer. Since drug issues are suspected and will likely be a causal factor, the final determinations will have to wait until the tests are all complete.

In Billy Mays case, if there is no physiological reason found, the toxicological tests will also require a waiting period. If they find an obvious heart problem, aneurysm, or some internal trauma from the bumpy plane landing, they might determine that to be the cause of death.

Graybeard · « **Reply #10 on:** June 28, 2009, 11:27:15 AM »

I didn't dislike Billy and agree it's a shame he died so early but I admit I did NOT like listening to that fast talking high pressure sales pitch of his and will not miss the fact I will not hear anymore new ones. Still unlike MJ I didn't dislike him and will not say I'm happy to see him gone as I am MJ.

BBF · « **Reply #11 on:** June 28, 2009, 11:45:04 AM »

I couldn't get my hands and finger on the MUTE fast enough!

Cement Man · « **Reply #12 on:** June 28, 2009, 11:58:46 AM »

I don't want to hear anymore about MJ. It worries me that this is such a big issue in people's lives and a lot of them don't even know how many states there are in the union, or seem to care when an unknown person passes or we lose another GI in the war.
Billy Mays was a jovial pitchman but I didn't care for some of his commercials, like you could glue your pants together in 2 seconds or stick some hook on concrete and lift a motor with it.

All of this reminded me though. I was thinking there was something that had been on the shelf in the garage for a few years, so I just went out and checked. Yes, it is there. An unopened box of Oxi-Clean.

I don't know if the wife bought it or I bought it, but I guess Billy convinced one of us.

Dee · « **Reply #13 on:** June 28, 2009, 12:50:33 PM »

Quote from: BBF on June 28, 2009, 11:45:04 AM

I couldn't get my hands and finger on the MUTE fast enough!

I agree BBF. I installed an EASY BUTTON for Billy. That way I just had sling the changer into the wall when he came on.

hillbill · « **Reply #14 on:** June 28, 2009, 02:28:53 PM »

anybody else feeling like hollywood is getting cleaned out?first grasshpper then farrah and akkk mj now bm. if i a couple more come off in the next week im saying its a conspiracy.

45-70.gov · « **Reply #15 on:** June 28, 2009, 03:04:48 PM »

ed mcman

they voted change they are getting it

this all pointe to the shortcummings in our health care system

CannonKrazy · « **Reply #16 on:** June 28, 2009, 03:25:50 PM »

Yep ole Billy Mays was a good salesman. Can't say that I liked him but that voice sure could wake the dead. There has been quite a few Sundays I was taking a knap in the recliner when all of a sudden "HI THIS IS BILLY MAYS WITH OXY CLEAN"

He sure knew how to wake a guy up.

Spanky · « **Reply #17 on:** June 28, 2009, 03:33:00 PM »

RIP Mr. Mays

Spanky

DalesCarpentry · « **Reply #18 on:** June 28, 2009, 05:06:40 PM »

I just learned he was from Pittsburgh. I naver knew that. Oh well RIP. Dale

skifastchad · « **Reply #19 on:** June 29, 2009, 03:06:35 AM »

Im putting my tinfoil hat on and saying that the dems had him whacked just like they did MJ last week.

Between MJ and Billy Mays, they can keep "Cap and Trade" off the news for at least another week.

Sourdough · « **Reply #20 on:** June 29, 2009, 05:30:23 AM »

Sounds like he got a bump on the head from things falling out of the overhead bins in that hard landing. Bet Liam Neeson would have told him to go get it checked out. He did not. Bet that will be the cause. Rog

Skunk · « **Reply #21 on:** June 29, 2009, 11:47:39 AM »

Medical examiner: Pitchman Mays had heart disease

By MITCH STACY Associated Press Writer The Associated Press
Monday, June 29, 2009 12:27 PM EDT

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Television pitchman Billy Mays likely died of a heart attack in his sleep, but further tests are needed to be sure of the cause of death, a medical examiner said Monday.

Hillsborough County Medical Examiner Vernard Adams said Mays suffered from hypertensive heart disease, and the wall of the left ventricle of Mays' heart and the wall of one of his arteries were enlarged. The boisterous, bearded 50-year-old known for hawking OxiClean and other products on national commercials was found dead Sunday by his wife in their Tampa condominium.

"The heart disease is perfectly consistent with sudden death," Adams said.

An official cause of death will be issued after toxicology and other tests are completed in eight to 10 weeks.

"While it provides some closure to learn that heart disease took Billy from us, it certainly doesn't ease the enormous void that his death has created in our lives," his wife, Deborah, said in a statement. "As you can imagine, we are all devastated."

Adams said Mays was taking the prescription painkillers Tramadol and hydrocodone for hip pain, but there was no indication of drug abuse. Mays had planned to have hip-replacement surgery Monday.

Mays told his wife he didn't feel well when he went to bed sometime after 10 p.m. Saturday. Earlier in the day, he said he was hit on the head when his flight from Philadelphia had a rough landing at Tampa International Airport. The airline said no passengers reported serious injuries.

Adams said the autopsy showed no evidence of head trauma.

In a 911 tape released Monday, a frantic woman tells emergency operators she found Mays cold and unresponsive. The woman isn't identified, but police have said Deborah Mays found her husband dead.

When asked what had happened, the caller says she doesn't know.

A second person got on the phone as the operator encourages them to get Mays on the floor to start CPR.

"We can't get him up, ma'am," the woman says. "He's gone."

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, now known as HSN.

Commercials and informercials followed, anchored by the high-energy Mays using them while tossing out kitschy phrases like, "Long live your laundry!"

HSN released a statement Monday morning, praising Mays as a "legend in the electronic retail history whose personality, entrepreneurial spirit and thoughtfulness for others have always been larger than life."

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.

Besides his wife, Mays is survived by a 3-year-old daughter and a stepson in his 20s, police said.

http://www.charter.net/news/read.php?ps=1016&rip_id=%3CD994EMOO3%40news.ap.org%3E&_LT=HOME_LARSDCCLM_UNEWS

Oldshooter · « **Reply #22 on:** June 29, 2009, 11:57:44 AM »

Personally, I did not know him so I cant say I didn't like him! I did detest his commercials, and found myself switching channels so fast that I did at times cut off my nose to spite my face so to speak. I would end up watching something equally as annoying, then loosing track and not finish seeing the program I was enjoying.

Can ya hear him pitching oxi-clean to St Peter with that fake "I love ya" grin!

45-70.gov · « **Reply #23 on:** June 29, 2009, 12:36:01 PM »

i used to walk around the house mocking him with a bottle of OXY CLEAN

hollering ''I IS A OXY-MORON''

as anoying as he was some times he will be missed

finch is waiting in the wings.....sham WOW

kansasj · « **Reply #24 on:** June 29, 2009, 04:10:29 PM »

Guess all we have left is the "shamwow" guy!!

jjas · « **Reply #25 on:** June 29, 2009, 04:42:59 PM »

I hear a bunch of people saying how annoying he was, but obviously his sales pitch worked.

The products sold and he was/is a household name.

Not bad for a guy with a bad hair/beard dye job and a an "annoying" sales pitch.....

R.I.P. Billy.....

DalesCarpentry · « **Reply #26 on:** June 29, 2009, 04:52:15 PM »

Quote from: jjas on June 29, 2009, 04:42:59 PM

I hear a bunch of people saying how annoying he was, but obviously his sales pitch worked.

The products sold and he was/is a household name.

Not bad for a guy with a bad hair/beard dye job and a an "annoying" sales pitch.....

R.I.P. Billy.....

I sure wish I could have made a living shooting off my mouth. If I did my back would not hurt so bad.

Dale

Oldshooter · « **Reply #27 on:** June 30, 2009, 05:41:25 AM »

Quote

I hear a bunch of people saying how annoying he was, but obviously his sales pitch worked.

Sales pitches that work ain't necessarily a good thing, Obama's worked, nuff said?

jjas · « **Reply #28 on:** June 30, 2009, 11:48:49 AM »

Quote from: Oldshooter on June 30, 2009, 05:41:25 AM

Quote
I hear a bunch of people saying how annoying he was, but obviously his sales pitch worked.

Sales pitches that work ain't necessarily a good thing, Obama's worked, nuff said?

Never said it was good idea, only that it worked (and worked well)....As far as Obama goes, sometimes people buy things and then wish they hadn't. Perhaps voters will have a bit of "buyers remorse" come next election.

Jim

Oldshooter · « **Reply #29 on:** June 30, 2009, 12:30:29 PM »

Quote

Perhaps voters will have a bit of "buyers remorse" come next election.

THAT MAY BE THE UNDERSTAEMENT OF THE CENTURY!!!!!!

What with Cap and trade and the denegration of our country to any muslim or dictator that will listen!

I'll stop now so as not to get too far OT